Possession
by JaninaM8
Summary: Taking EJ & Samantha through the years from childhood to adults. How they deal with each other and the fact that their families hate each other. It is set in Port Charles (General Hospital) and contains some of the characters from that show, only because I know more about GH than Days, but I love EJami! :)
1. Chapters 1-10

I just recently started watching all the EJ/Sami youtube clips I could find since I missed them from the start. I am addicted to them already! I used to watch Days a loooong time ago, but I have watched GH consistently. So, I decided to set the story in the "verse" I know more about. Things have been changed for story purposes. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. Thanks :)

Prologue

Samantha "Sami" Brady and Elvis "EJ" DiMera were born to be sworn enemies. It had been drilled into their heads from the time they were born. Sami grew up hearing about the "evil DiMera's" and EJ grew up hearing about the "evil Brady's". Neither really understood why, something about Sami's grandfather's sister and EJ's grandfather, a convent, a lie and a suicide.

To EJ and Sami, it sounded a lot like ancient history and didn't have much to do with them considering they had never even met their grandparents. Besides, how could you hate someone you'd never met and had nothing to do with events of the past? So was the logic of the adults in their lives. However, it had been drilled into their heads that their families hated each other and no matter what they were to avoid any member of the other family.

And so when EJ and Sami first clapped eyes on each other in kindergarten, they were naturally curious – as most children are. Sami walked right up to EJ when she learned who he was and studied him closely. Dark hair, brown eyes, and a straight nose – he looked like any regular boy she'd met before.

EJ introduced himself in an accent that Sami had never heard before. It made her giggle. "You talk funny," she said.

He looked down his nose at her. Well, as much as a child could anyway. "I'm British."

She smirked and tossed her blond hair over her shoulders. "You still talk funny."

EJ glared at her, reached out and pulled her hair. "You _look_ funny. You have a pig nose."

Sami glared back at him and then, in a fit of anger that would follow her through adulthood, kicked him in the shins and then ran away.

EJ DiMera decided right then and there that he did not like Samantha Brady _at all_. And that was fine with Sami because she did not like EJ DiMera at all either. Her parents would be so proud.

In first grade EJ would chase Sami around the playground carrying a snake and trying his very best to scare her. Sami put a frog in his desk after recess and EJ ended up getting in trouble for bringing a frog inside from the playground.

In second grade Sami told everyone that EJ's father was Count Dracula and slept in a coffin – and so did EJ! Her plan to cause social ruin backfired when everyone became fascinated instead of afraid of EJ.

In fourth grade EJ told everyone that Samantha Brady had cooties. In retaliation, Sami tripped EJ on the playground and he ended up face first in the dirt.

In sixth grade Sami told everyone that EJ was a bed wetter. EJ spread it around that Sami had a crush on her math teacher, Mr. Scorpio. Sam McCall, who had a crush on EJ, took it one step farther and told Mr. Scorpio all about it in class one day. Elizabeth Webber, Sami's best friend, punched Sam in the face that day after school. Eric, Sami's brother, punched EJ the following day.

In ninth grade EJ spread the rumor that Sami was a hermaphrodite. His best friend, Patrick Drake, thought this was a riot and helped him spread it. This time, Steven Webber, Elizabeth's brother, punched Patrick Drake who then turned around and punched EJ. Sami spread the rumor that EJ was a wuss and cried when Patrick hit him.

In tenth grade Sami told everyone that EJ and Nicole Walker had sex on the football field and now they both had gonorrhea. Nicole and Sami got into a fight as a result of this and when Sam tried to step in and defend her friend, Elizabeth got involved and got into a fistfight with Sam. All four were suspended.

In eleventh grade EJ told Lucas Horton that Sami had a crush on him after discovering Sami writing "Mr. Lucas Horton" during their English class. Since EJ had counted on the fact that Lucas returned the sentiment, this backfired on EJ when Lucas and Sami started dating. Unsure of why it bothered him so much to see Sami dating Lucas, EJ started dating Nicole to get Samantha Brady out of his head.

This worked fairly well until senior year when Sami lost her brother Eric in a car accident. Eric had been driving his car with Jason Quartermaine and had been speeding on a rainy night down a road that had seen many accidents over the years. Eric had lost control over the car when a drunk driver had run a stop sign and hit a tree. Eric had died instantly.

The day that EJ observed Sami crying outside on the bleachers changed everything for him. Never had he seen another human being in so much pain. Eric had been liked by everyone; even EJ had had a grudging respect for the boy. Lucas had distanced himself from Sami and from what EJ had been able to gather, Lucas was uncomfortable by Sami's loss and sadness and didn't know what to do. His answer was to run away, which was incredibly cold to EJ – and he had done some pretty cold things. Mostly to Sami.

And so, when EJ skipped class to check on his arch nemesis and offer his condolences and some sort of weird truce, he had no idea how much he was about to change things between he and Sami forever.

**Chapter One**

EJ DiMera scanned the crowd in the Port Charles High School gymnasium looking for one person in particular in the sea of faces.

"Who are you looking for, man? Nicole?" Patrick Drake asked as he stared at the cheerleaders that filed out into the middle of the gym. He grinned devilishly. "Man, I love pep rallies."

EJ rolled his eyes. He _hated_ pep rallies. They were just so lame and…peppy. EJ was not one for school spirit. He hated most of the people he went to high school with save for a small handful of people. Currently he was looking for the one that was most definitely part of that small group.

"No, I am not looking for Nicole," EJ muttered. "We broke up, remember?"

Patrick looked away from the cheerleaders and focused in on his best friend. "Yeah, why did you dump her again?"

EJ huffed. "I did not 'dump' her, Patrick. That sounds so…callous. I ended our relationship, but I was respectful and gentle about it."

"Well, the way she carried on in Brady Black's arms later it looked like it must have been pretty callous."

EJ rolled his eyes again. "Oh, please. Like she wouldn't use any excuse to run to Brady for comfort. I've no doubt she went out with me just to make him jealous."

"And I have no doubt that he's going out with _her _to make Chloe Lane jealous."

"Oh, the tangled web we weave…" EJ murmured as he took yet another scan of the room. Where in the hell was Sami? They'd had plans to skip the pep rally and go down to the boxcars to spend some time together before they both had to go home.

And then he saw her standing near the exit looking at him impatiently. He pursed his lips together and glared at her – and then laughed when she pretended to rub her forehead with her middle finger. The bint was flipping him off!

Sami slipped out the doors with a smirk on her lovely face and EJ jumped up and grinned at Patrick. "See you later, mate."

Patrick looked up at him, startled. "Where the hell are you going?"

"Out," EJ said simply and proceeded to maneuver his way down the bleachers and out the doors as discreetly as possible. It would not bode well for his plans with Sami if either of them were caught cutting the pep rally.

He caught sight of Sami at the end of the hallway near the door to their freedom, smiling so brightly at him he felt momentarily blinded. Then she giggled and ducked out of the doors, causing EJ to grin and jog after her. Once he made it outside he found her running towards the parking lot, the sound of her infectious laughter drifting across the space that separated them.

EJ sprinted and caught her around the waist, pulling her against him as he hugged her from behind and laughed with triumph. Sami squirmed in his arms and laughed as she tried to pull herself free. After a minute, fear of detection caused EJ to set Sami free. She turned and grinned up at him. "Meet you there?" she asked.

He nodded, wishing they could just drive to the boxcars together the way normal couples – _friends_ – did. But if they were caught together…it would start raining hellfire if his father found he had befriended a Brady. And he knew it would be the same for Sami with her parents. He didn't want to think about how much more sneaking around they'd have to do then. It was bad enough that now that they couldn't even tell their friends for fear of their parents catching wind of it.

As much as he wished he could be friends with Sami out in the open he knew it was better this way. At least he was able to have some part of the girl he'd come to need like air. When he thought of all the time they'd spent as enemies instead of the best friends they'd become, he wanted to kick himself.

The little speed demon managed to get to the boxcars before him and he found her sitting inside an open one, her legs swinging away as they dangled from it. She smiled at him as he approached and handed over a bottle of water. "I managed to grab two on the way out of the house this morning. They're warm, but it's better than nothing."

"Why thank you, my dear," he said gallantly and hopped up beside her. She smiled up at him as she reached behind her. EJ watched her suspiciously and then groaned when she extracted her math book – her worst subject. It happened to be EJ's best subject and she knew it. Somehow their time together turned into tutoring sessions. He groaned and flopped himself backwards into the boxcar.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad," she said and nudged his leg with her hand.

"I'm beginning to think it's not me you like but my math skills."

"I'm not even going to warrant that with a response. If you don't know by now that it's your super cool accent then I don't know what to tell you."

EJ growled and yanked Sami back with him, buffering her fall by causing her to fall against him instead of the floor of the boxcar. Sami squealed and then burst into laughter when EJ began tickling her.

"Uncle, uncle!" Sami exclaimed breathlessly when EJ rolled on top of her and tickled her into utter submission.

He straddled her legs and stared down at her as he tried to catch his breath. She was so lovely…and this wasn't the first time he'd thought about kissing her.

But it would be a mistake because if he grew anymore attached to Sami than he already was then it would be that much more difficult to hide their friendship. No. He had to keep things platonic, just the way Sami seemed to want it.

She nudged him lightly and EJ rolled off of her and stared up at the grimy ceiling of the boxcar. He fought the urge to tuck her against his side and wrap his arms around her. That's what boyfriends and girlfriends did, not friends. That was crossing a line.

"I liked math better when it was just numbers. When letters got involved it just screwed me all up," Sami muttered as she sat up.

EJ sighed and sat up, too. He watched Sami open her book and flip through the pages. "Have you always been this obsessive about good grades?" he asked.

She shrugged. "No, not really. But it's senior year and I have to get good grades for college—"

"Where are you going?" he asked, interrupting her.

She looked up at him. "I've applied to a few places – here in Port Charles at PCU, plus Northeastern, Florida State, Berkley and NYU. Where are you applying? Or are you just going to Oxford no questions asked and that's it?"

EJ stared at her, wondering how he hadn't realized that at the end of the school year he and Sami would separate. He was going to Oxford that was true. He had no choice. His father had gone, his father's father etc. – it was tradition and expected. EJ had never even thought of contesting what he'd known to be his fate since he knew what "college" was. But leaving Sami…

"Maybe you could apply to Oxford, too," he suggested, suddenly feeling as though he couldn't breathe.

"Yeah, and maybe monkeys will fly out of my ass," she muttered and then laughed. "Okay, so, we have fractions for homework…"

"Sami," EJ said and took the book from her. "When we graduate we will barely see each other for four years."

Sami bit her lip and nodded. "I know," she murmured. "I've thought about it, too."

"Have you?"

She nodded. "We'll email a lot."

EJ jumped up and started pacing the boxcar, swiping a hand through his hair as he did. "Email. That's all you have to say? Sami…" he stopped and faced her. "Sami, you are my best friend. I can't imagine four years without you."

"We have no other choice, EJ," Sami murmured. She stood and faced him. "I can't go to Oxford with you. No offense, but it's too far for me to go. A whole ocean between me and my friends and family?" She shook her head. "No. At least you still have some family out there."

"You'd have me," EJ said softly and took one small hand in his own.

"And a whole bunch of questions about why I chose Oxford. You think my parents don't know that you're going to go there? Our families may hate each other, but that doesn't stop them from knowing every single thing about one another. We couldn't risk it, EJ. Either way, I wouldn't be going so we'd just be back here, at square one. It sucks beyond the telling of it, but what else can we do?" She bit her lip and her eyes filled with tears. "You've helped me with so much the past few months…I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come to see how I was that day on the bleachers. After Eric died…" she trailed off as tears spilled from her eyes.

EJ, hating the sight of Sami's tears, pulled her to him and wrapped her in his arms. She buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. He let her cry it out, occasionally kissing the top of her head and inhaling the scent of her strawberry scented hair. Grieving for Eric had not been easy thus far. Sami had her good days and her bad days and EJ tried like hell to be there for her when she needed someone to listen to her remember her brother, cry or rail at the world for taking the only person who understood her completely.

It had been doubly hard since Jason Quartermaine remembered nothing of that night. Or of anything at all, ever. Sami had been devastated to learn that she could glean nothing from Jason of Eric's last words, if he suffered at all – nothing.

Jason had since dropped out of school and last anyone heard he had taken up with an alleged mobster by the name of Sonny Corinthos. The last time EJ had seen Jason he had been a changed man. Pre-accident, Jason had always been an amiable young man, studious to the point of nerdy and now he was reserved, angry and distant.

"Do you think it's weird?" Sami murmured against his chest.

"Do I think what is weird?" EJ murmured back, running a hand over her hair.

"How we became such instant best friends after hating each other for so long?"

EJ smiled. "I'll tell you a secret."

Sami looked up at him, curious. "What?"

He leaned in closer and whispered, "I never really hated you all that much. I only did those things to you because I felt as though I had to."

"Why?"

He shrugged. "I suppose I felt it expected of me, of our family legacy. Plus, you were no innocent so I had to take action."

She laughed and pushed out of his arms. "Devil."

He laughed and dug his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "And I suppose we became such instant best friends because underneath all that 'hate' there was something there. Something special just waiting for us to realize it."

She smiled wistfully. "Yes, I suppose you're right."

"You _suppose_?"

"I am not helping to inflate your already big head," she retorted good-naturedly. She nodded towards her discarded math book. "But I do need to make use of it…"

EJ groaned as they ambled over to the doors and sat down side by side together. "Tell me what the trouble is," he said.

Sami flipped through the pages and pointed to a set of problems. "These."

EJ stared at the problems without really seeing them. All he could think about was that after they graduated and stole moments together over the summer, there would be four years in which they barely saw each other. He was as amazed as Sami – how had she gotten under his skin so quickly to the point that the very idea of being separated from her felt like the end of the world?

Sami looked up at him and placed her hand on the side of his face gently. He looked down at her and she attempted a smile. "It'll be okay, EJ. I promise."

"Do you?" he whispered.

She nodded. "I do."

EJ wondered if it was normal for boys his age to think of those words being said in a different setting. The thought disturbed him on many levels, the least of which was that Sami was a Brady and therefore marriage was out of the question for them. He shook his head and willed himself to snap out of these moments when he felt his whole world revolved around one slip of a girl.

**Chapter Two **

Sami eyed her (female) best friend, Elizabeth Webber, suspiciously. The other girl had come over to help Sami pack for the big move the following day: Sami was on her way to Boston University. Elizabeth was staying in Port Charles and Sami suspected it had to do with one Jason Morgan – formerly Jason Quartermaine. The boy had changed his name after separating himself completely from his former life and that included his family and, apparently, his last name.

Elizabeth hadn't mentioned Jason much, but whenever he was near Elizabeth would look after him longingly. Sami had seen Jason look just as longingly at Elizabeth when he thought no one was looking. Sami knew Elizabeth did not want to bring up Jason to her for Elizabeth knew how Jason's lack of memories of that night Eric had been killed tortured Sami.

However, Sami loved Elizabeth like a sister – more than her own sister, actually. Carrie was such a goody-goody, which was something Elizabeth knew all about since her own sister Sarah was a goody goody.

Not one to beat around the bush Sami came right out and said, "So do you want to tell me what's going on with you and Jason or do you plan to just keep it a secret?" The fact that Sami kept a secret of her own – her friendship with EJ – was not lost on Sami. But that would come later.

Elizabeth's sapphire blue eyes widened and her beautiful face froze into a mask of shock. Sami envied Elizabeth. Elizabeth was such a classic beauty with her porcelain skin, full lips, and long mahogany hair. Sami would hate her if she didn't love her so much.

"I—I don't know—" Elizabeth blew out a breath and shook her head. "Oh, what's the use?"

"Exactly."

Elizabeth shot Sami a look. "Cheeky."

Sami grinned, thinking that was something EJ had said to her before. "So, what is going on? Are you in love with him?"

Elizabeth sighed and sat down on Sami's bed. She stared down at her hands. "I think so."

"I'm sensing a 'but' here…"

Elizabeth sighed again. "He doesn't think we should be together because of his lifestyle."

"His lifestyle being that he's Sonny Corinthos's enforcer?" Sami said and sat down next to Elizabeth. "My estimation of Jason just improved that he'd put your safety first."

"But I want to be with him, Sami! What is he going to do? Stay alone for the rest of his life because of the choice he made? You know that can't happen."

Sami shrugged. "I don't know. This Jason is different from the other Jason. He seems to like being alone now whereas the other Jason was a bit of a people pleaser."

"But to be alone forever? Sonny isn't alone!"

"Sonny is a jackass," Sami pointed out.

"Sami," Elizabeth whined.

Sami laughed and wrapped an arm across her friend's shoulders. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Look, just give it some time and don't be afraid to push the issue a little. I've seen the way he looks at you, Elizabeth. The guy is crazy for you. He just needs a little…enticement."

Elizabeth looked up at her. "And you don't mind? I didn't want to tell you because of…"

"Because of Eric," Sami said softly. "I know. But it's okay, Elizabeth. It's not like Jason caused the accident. Eric shouldn't have been speeding and I know that, but I don't blame Jason for anything. I just wish he remembered is all." She wiped discreetly at the tears that started to fall. It happened a lot when she talked or thought about Eric.

Elizabeth hugged her friend tightly. "I'm sorry, Sami. Jason wishes he remembered, too. It bothers him that he can't remember anything of that night or, you know, anything of his previous life."

Sami nodded and hugged her friend back. "Listen, I um, have something to tell you now."

Elizabeth pulled back. "What? You and EJ DiMera are dating now?"

Sami's eyes went wide. She jumped up and pointed at her friend. "What—how did—what?!"

Elizabeth laughed and waved her hands in the universal sign of "Keep it down!" Sami scurried over to her door and shut it. "How did you know about me and EJ?" she whispered.

"Sami, really? All of a sudden you two aren't at each others throats and you're not scheming to ruin his life? And he's suddenly ceased fire, too? Plus, I've seen how he looks at you when he thinks no one is watching."

Sami blinked. "Elizabeth, EJ and I are just friends. We're not dating."

Elizabeth stared at her best friend incredulously. "Sami, you can't really think that's all that's going on. I mean, one minute you guys hate each other and then the next, he's dumping Nicole, you're dumping Lucas and now you disappear for hours at a time—"

"EJ dumped Nicole because Nicole is a terrible person. I dumped Lucas because he didn't know how to be there for me after Eric died. EJ did not dump Nicole for me," Sami said adamantly.

"I'll give you Lucas, but EJ dumping Nicole so mysteriously after the grope fests they would have in the halls? I don't _think_ so."

Sami shook her head. "No, Elizabeth, you're wrong. EJ and I are just friends. We're not together. Yes, it might seem that way with the way we sneak off but that's because if our families found out—"

"I know, Sami, trust me I know." Elizabeth cocked her head to the side and planted her hands on her hips. "You could have trusted me. You should have."

"I know," Sami murmured.

"Why are you telling me this now?"

Sami sighed and wrung her hands together. "I suppose because I'm leaving tomorrow and I needed someone to know how hard it is to leave him. Elizabeth, he's…he's become my best friend. My best male friend. He's leaving for Oxford, I'm staying in the States but leaving Port Charles…you…I'm having a hard time with it."

"Sami," Elizabeth said and hugged her friend. "Are you in love with EJ?"

Sami stiffened. "No, no I'm not in love with EJ. I can't be!"

Elizabeth pulled back and studied her friend closely. "You most definitely 'can' be. Just because your parents say you can't be doesn't change the heart and what it wants."

"Oh for crying out loud, Elizabeth. You sound like a Hallmark card."

Elizabeth laughed. "Sami, take your family and his family out of the equation and pretend for a minute that you two can have a normal relationship."

"That's the thing, Elizabeth. I can't pretend. It's useless. EJ and I are friends that's all. To want more – to even try for it is stupid. Just being friends is hard enough. I just…I think the reason I am having such a hard time leaving him is because I know this is it. This is the end of me and EJ forever. Four years is a long time and it's not like I can visit him on the weekends like I can you. I've felt it for weeks now. This is it."

Elizabeth shook her head slowly. "Someone in this room is being a drama queen and it's not me. Sami, four years is a long time, that I will give you, but if you and he are such good friends as you're claiming – and if I'm right about you two being in love – then you'll make it work."

"Stop saying we're in love, Elizabeth. EJ and I are not in love. You haven't even seen us together to know that!"

"True, but I've seen a difference in you since I've suspected the two of you have been together. You're calmer. More sure of yourself. It's like you've grown into yourself finally and I think he did that for you. He made you realize what an amazing person you are and now you're not afraid to show it."

Sami looked at Elizabeth in horror. "If this sappy crap is what love does to you, then you can have it. You and Jason. It's all yours."

Elizabeth laughed. "Are you going to see him tonight?"

Sami nodded. "I'm sneaking out at midnight to meet him."

Elizabeth grinned. "Then let's get packing. Maybe you can catch a nap before it's time to meet him."

As always when Sami saw EJ, her heart started beating triple time. Even when they hated each other, she couldn't help what the sight of him did to her. He was gorgeous, that's all there was to it. Plus, the way he held himself – it had to be a British thing. He was just so confident in himself unlike any other boy or person she had ever met. Or maybe it was just an EJ thing. Whatever it was, it made him sexy.

Even standing inside a boxcar wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a hoodie, EJ looked sexy. As she approached she noticed how tense he looked. When he finally spotted her, he jumped down and was in front of her in three ground eating strides. "I should have picked you up."

"EJ, I was fine," Sami assured him.

"I was worried."

Sami put a hand on his chest. "Stop. I'm fine."

EJ placed one warm hand over hers. "Sami…"

"EJ."

EJ squeezed her hand and took a deep breath. "Sami, I….there's something I want to…Tomorrow we're going our separate ways. We're going to college and I… Well, that is things happen in college. It's a time for a lot of firsts…"

"Okay, I have no idea what you just said."

EJ chuckled. "That didn't quite come out well, did it?"

"Not at all. What's up?"

EJ heaved another deep breath and said quickly, "When people go off to college for the first time, if they haven't already done it in high school then they do it in college."

Sami stared at him. "EJ, are you talking about sex?"

He nodded, letting out a shaky breath.

She pulled her hand from under his and pointed at him. "Have you…?"

He straightened and looked her in the eye. "No."

"No? Are you freaking kidding me? Have you seen you? You went out with Nicole Walker!"

He scratched the back of his head. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everyone knows Nicole is always open for business. How could you have gone out with her and not have had sex?"

EJ shrugged. "I didn't want to with her."

"How old are you?"

EJ blinked. "Eighteen. You know this, why are you asking?"

"Because I don't know of any eighteen year old boy that does not want to have sex with someone who offers it up so easily. What is the matter with you?"

"Did you have sex with Lucas?"

Sami frowned. "No. But it's different for women."

"How so?"

"Don't you think about sex every two minutes?"

EJ frowned thoughtfully. "Well, I've certainly never timed it. Perhaps we should try it and see how I do."

Sami laughed and shook her head. "You're hopeless."

EJ's smile fell and his eyes bore into hers intensely. "You're right on that."

"What?"

"Sami, I want you to be my first. And I want to be your first."

Sami took a step back and blinked. "EJ did you…are you – EJ, are you asking me to have sex with you?"

EJ nodded and straightened his gait. "Yes."

**Chapter Three**

Sami stared at EJ, unable to form words. She pointed at him and managed to get out, "You…"

"I…"

"EJ, what the hell are you saying?!" Sami demanded with a stomp of a foot.

"I'm saying that I want my first time to be with you and yours to be with me," he said and came closer to her. He cupped the side of her face. "What do you think?"

"I think – why? Are you nervous about it or something and you think with me you'll be less nervous? Are you just looking to get it out of the way?"

EJ dropped his hand and looked at her incredulously. "Samantha, you cannot be serious. Do you really think that's why I would ask you to share something so intimate? Just to 'get it out of the way'?"

Sami shrugged. "Well, I don't know. Why else would you ask me something like that?"

He smiled gently. "You can't think of one reason, Samantha? Not one?"

She stared at him and swallowed hard. "You…you want me?"

He nodded and said solemnly. "I have for a long time now."

"You have?"

He nodded, reached out and cupped her face in his hands. "Samantha, tomorrow I leave for England and you leave for Boston. We won't see each other for a very long time. I want us to have this. I want it to be with you because – because you're so dear to me and I can't imagine my first time being with anyone else."

"EJ…EJ, we can't."

Hurt flashed across his face. "Why not?"

Tears filled Sami's eyes and she pushed his hands away. "Because it would make parting from you so much harder. I can't share that with you and then go for God knows how long without seeing you."

"E-mail? Phone? Remember those? Letters, even, the old-fashioned kind."

"EJ—"

"Samantha, I'm in love with you and I want our last night together to be special," EJ declared earnestly. "I want us to make love and keep the memory of it with us for the time we're apart. I want us to hold each other in our hearts until we can be together again." Tears fell from Sami's eyes and she shook her head and pushed at him. EJ grabbed hold of her wrists. "Samantha, what is it? Tell me what's wrong. Do you feel nothing for me? You have to feel something for me—"

"EJ, I can't. I can't let myself…I can't give in to those feelings—"

"Then you feel them, too, don't you? You love me back, don't you? Just tell me, Samantha. I need to know," he said eagerly. "I need to know you love me back. I want to carry it with me to Oxford and for the next four years. I want to know that you're with me, that we're on the same page."

Sami managed to twist away from him and shook her head. "I can't, EJ. I can't. It's too hard…I can't do it. I can't give in. Our families…the distance. It's just too much, EJ."

"Sami—"

"You're an amazing person, EJ, and I do adore you, but I can't love you. I'm sorry."

Before EJ could get a word in, Sami ran. She ran away from him. Leaving him standing there feeling bereft. Alone. Rejected. This was their last night together and what was supposed to be a magical night, what he had prepared for all day had just fallen apart before his very eyes. The only person he had ever loved so completely had just run away from him. She hadn't even said good-bye…

With tears in his eyes, EJ made it back to his car. He climbed in and stared out the window, everything becoming blurred by the tears that filled and dropped from his eyes. So that was it. Sami was afraid. Afraid to be apart from him and yet afraid to be with him. So she'd run. She'd run and decided it was best to just leave him completely.

How could she do that? How could she take his heart – the heart he had offered to her – and hand it back to him? How could she claim to care about him, to be his best friend and yet do something so callous?

EJ's hands balled into fists and he clenched his jaw as his tears subsided. Forget her. Forget Samantha Brady. Who needed her? He didn't! He had lived 18 years without her, and had somehow convinced himself that after a few months of friendship he was in love with her? That he needed her? No. He didn't. She didn't need him; she'd made that abundantly clear. And he didn't need her either.

EJ sped home; so angry he thought his skin would split from the force of it. There certainly was a fine line between love and hate because right now, he was most certain he completely and utterly hated Samantha Brady.

"I hurt him so badly, Elizabeth," Sami sobbed into Elizabeth's shoulder. "He was standing there, telling me he loved me and telling me he wanted to be with me and I just couldn't do it."

"Uh…do you guys want to be alone for a while?"

Sami pulled herself from Elizabeth's hug and wiped at her eyes as she looked at an uncomfortable Jason Morgan standing there awkwardly. Sami would have laughed at how he looked ready to bolt if she wasn't so desperately miserable that she'd hurt EJ.

"Yeah, that's be great, honey," Elizabeth said and smiled warmly at him.

Jason nodded, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth and then nodded once and bolted.

Sami looked at Elizabeth. "'Honey'?"

Elizabeth shrugged and looked at her sheepishly. "Some things changed after you and I talked yesterday."

"Did you…?"

"No, no. We're taking it slow."

"Well, that's…great."

Elizabeth frowned sympathetically at her. "Sami, did you try to call him this morning?"

"Yes. He didn't answer."

"Do you think this was partly self-fulfilling prophecy at work?" Elizabeth asked tentatively.

Sami furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you were just telling me yesterday how you thought this was the end of your friendship with EJ, that saying good-bye to him last night was a forever thing. And now…"

"Now it definitely is," Sami said mournfully.

"I can understand deciding it was not the time to have sex with EJ. But why did you run from him, Sami? Why didn't you try to explain or talk it out? Leaving him like that…it wasn't right."

"Don't you think I know that, Elizabeth?" Sami exclaimed. "I know, trust me, I know! I just—I just…"

"You just what, Sami?"

"I just can't do it! Elizabeth, EJ and I cannot be together. Not on this planet. Our families hate, loathe and despise each other. Those times EJ and I hung out – it wasn't real. It was borrowed time and that was it. It's not like anything could have ever come of any of it. Not even a lasting friendship. What kind of friendship can last where the main component is sneaking around just to hang out? And to hang out in abandoned places like the boxcars?"

Elizabeth shrugged and sighed wistfully. "I don't know, it sounds kind of romantic to me."

"Yes, the smell of pee that wafted in on particularly hot days was really conducive to romance," Sami said dryly. "As was the occasional drunk homeless person."

Elizabeth shot her a look.

"My point is that if I gave in to EJ last night, if I shared something so intimate with him and then we did the thing where we email a whole lot for a month or two and talk on the phone…and then one day he meets someone who is, you know, there – I mean, we're not going to even be in the same time zone for crying out."

"So you're afraid that EJ would cheat on you?"

"Not that he'd intend it. But long distance relationships like the one we'd have would be impossible. How can you have a relationship with someone on the other side of the world? And how can you have a relationship with someone when your families despise each other?"

"You know what I keep hearing from you, Sami?"

"What?" Sami asked testily.

"That you're terrified."

"Does the word 'duh' mean anything to you?" Sami sighed heavily and wrung her hands together. "Elizabeth, I'm afraid to be with him, and I'm afraid to be without him. But only one of those options are doable and only one of those options is a real…_option_. Our families would never accept us. Kind of like Romeo and Juliet? Except I'm not about to take a roofie from a priest."

Elizabeth couldn't help it; she started to giggle. She slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle it.

Sami shrugged and managed a laughed. "Oh, go ahead. I've always said my life was sitcom. Someone should get a kick out of it."

"You could have told EJ these things."

"I did," Sami said defensively. "In a roundabout, convoluted way."

"Sami, your life is your own, not your parents. And so is EJ's. You can't hide behind their hatred of each other forever."

"You don't get it, Elizabeth. If I told my parents that I was in love with EJ DiMera they'd send me to a convent. Well, I'm not sure if they can do that, but you know what I mean. They'd do anything they could to make sure I never saw EJ again. And his parents would do the same!"

"And now? Sami, you hurt him last night and if he won't return your call before he leaves for Oxford…?"

Sami pursed her lips together and squared her shoulders. "Then it's just my cross to bear isn't it? And maybe it's for the best."

"Do you really believe that?"

Sami sighed. "No. But it's all I've got."

Chapter Four

**Two years later, Christmas**

EJ stared out at water at the docks and sighed, burying his hands in his coat. It was cold, gray day and he knew at home there was hot chocolate or spiked eggnog to be had, but he just didn't want to be there. He didn't want to be in Port Charles at all right now. He sighed. Well. That wasn't entirely true. He was glad to be home, for Port Charles had been the only home he could remember, but he was terrified of seeing one certain blond…

"EJ?"

And there she was, standing before him in jeans, boots, a pink winter jacket, a scarf and a cute little hat. She was carrying several shopping bags and staring at him wide-eyed.

His heart leaped at the sight of her and he wanted more than anything to reach out and pull her into his arms. The remembrance of how she'd rejected him, how she'd turned tail and ran away from him after he'd offered his heart to her caused him to squelch the impulse.

After two years and several e-mails from her about how sorry she was had lessened, but not dissolved his pain. He had been angry for a very long time and then just depressed. There had been nothing in her emails that told him she wanted him or loved him, just apologies and explanations about how they could never be. When she'd gone so far as to explain that even their friendship had been on borrowed time, EJ had shut himself off from her. As best as he could anyway. He partied, he had sex with lots of women; he did what he could to get Samantha Jean Brady out of his system.

And now she was standing before him, _smiling_ at him as though nothing at all had happened. He climbed slowly to his feet but kept his hands in his coat. "Hello, Samantha," he said coolly.

"Hello? After two years?" She beamed at him, dropped her bag and engulfed him in a hug that took him completely by surprise. "How about a hug instead?" She pulled back and looked up at him. "How are you, EJ? How's Oxford?"

He stared at her; unable to believe she was acting as though nothing had happened between them at all. As though they were…well, as though they were long-time friends. What was happening? What was she doing?

"Oxford is – it's fine," he stammered. "H-how is Boston?"

She smiled brightly. "It's great. I've made a lot of new friends."

It was on the tip of his tongue to ask about boyfriends, but he wasn't sure if he could handle the answer to that. And he wasn't sure he wanted to answer any questions about relationships she might have. Once upon a time…being just before he saw her, he had wanted to rub it in her face that he'd had his first time and it had been mind-blowing. He figured he could leave out the bit about how he had been drunk and had fantasized the whole time that it was Samantha he was making love to.

"When did you arrive?" she asked curiously.

"Just a couple days ago," he replied. This was surreal. Was it really happening? Was he standing here engaging in idle chatter with the woman who had broken his heart? And then he found himself asking, "And you?"

"The same." She gestured to the bags she'd dropped to hug him. "Doing some last minute Christmas shopping."

EJ stared at her; he didn't know what to say, what to make of this conversation. But then she went back to her bags and picked them up. "Well, I'll leave you to do…whatever it was you were doing. I'm meeting Elizabeth at Kelly's in a few. So, hey, if I don't see you, have a great Christmas and a great New Year."

EJ watched her go not sure if he should go after her or stay where he was. Confusion caused him to be unable to move, but he knew it would be just a matter of time before he had to seek her out and find out what the hell had just happened.

"So let me get this straight," Elizabeth said as she picked up a french fry and used it to point at Sami. "You ran into EJ on the docks and you acted as though nothing had happened?"

Sami nodded and grinned, grabbed the fry from Elizabeth and popped it in her mouth. "The look on his face was classic. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights."

"What made you do it? I mean, I always thought if you guys saw each other again you'd shove him off the docks or choke him or something. But you acted as though nothing had happened?"

Sami shrugged. "I thought I'd do either of those things, too, but see, I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of thinking he hurt me as much as he did. How many emails did I send him? A million it feels like. And how many did he send me? Not a one. So, fuck him. If he thinks he can just ignore me after I apologized and explained myself to death, then fine. He probably expected my righteous anger just as much as you did. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction."

"So your plan was to surprise him by acting like nothing happened and you're just two old friends from high school that just happened to run into each other on the docks?"

Sami nodded. "Yup."

"And it didn't concern you out there that his family or yours could have been walking on by?"

"There was no one around. That's why I went that way in the first place. I was just going to sort through what I bought until it was time to meet you."

"So what are you going to do next?"

Sami sat back. "Nothing. It's done."

Elizabeth stared at her. "You're not going to try and see him again? Contact him?"

"Nope. It was done with the last email I sent and never got a reply to."

Elizabeth sighed and shook her head. "I don't know why…but I don't think that's the case."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I just don't think that with all the hurt between you it can just be over."

"Elizabeth, I'm going back to school in a few weeks and so is he. The chances of us running into each other are slim. I think we're fine."

"Are you?"

Sami frowned at her. "Let's get off me and focus on you instead. How's Jason?"

Elizabeth picked up her napkin and started to tear it. "Distant."

"Distant?"

She nodded. "Distant."

"Why is he distant?"

"If I knew why, maybe he wouldn't be distant," Elizabeth said pointedly.

Sami held up her hands. "Someone's testy. Give me some more to work with here. What's been going on leading up to his being distant?"

"Things were going fine and then he just started pulling away."

Sami hated how distressed and sad Elizabeth appeared. She wanted to do something – namely punch one Jason Morgan in the face. She knew how much Elizabeth loved Jason, and it seemed more so after they'd started having sex. Sami wondered if that was what it would have been like if she and EJ had had sex. Would they have grown closer, or would the distance have destroyed them as she'd thought?

She sighed and looked sympathetically at her friend. "I'm sorry."

Elizabeth shook her head and put on a smile, albeit a fake one. "No, it's…I guess it is what it is. Hopefully it's just one of those bumps couples go through and then we'll move on."

Sami nodded. "I'm sure it is." Though she had no idea. What were the common ups and downs of couples? She'd heard enough from her friends to glean a few details, but Sami had yet to have a serious boyfriend. She hadn't even had sex yet. None of the boys she had met in school had really…lit her pilot. They were all right, but so lame at time. Drinking, partying, streaking and acting like drunken fools…it wasn't something Sami was into. She wanted someone mature and sure of themselves. Someone smart and goal-oriented and sexy.

It probably didn't help that she compared most of the "boys" of her acquaintance with EJ, who had always been more of a man than a boy to her. Fact was, despite how much she tried to bury it she still had feelings for EJ that were not easily definable. Even after all this time she didn't know if it was just an infatuation or love. She tried her very best not to analyze it because she feared the answer.

She rubbed her forward and shut her eyes briefly. Really, she just needed to get a life and get over this damn EJ DiMera thing. Whatever it was, it had to end.

So then, of course, EJ walked into Kelly's. Their eyes met across the room and he stopped short as his chocolate brown eyes felt as though they were digging into her soul.

"Like I said," Elizabeth murmured. "Not over."

Sami shook her head and averted her eyes. "No, it is. It is. I um, I'm going to get going. We'll talk later okay?"

Elizabeth looked at her friend knowingly. "Sure."

Sami silently thanked her for not pushing her to elaborate on why she suddenly felt the need to leave the premises. Thinking about EJ and all they could have had wasn't going to get her anywhere. It was done. Over. Finished. Just because she felt his presence surround her and steal her breath did not mean a thing. She was just feeling sorry for herself for being so lame and not having a boyfriend yet. That was all.

EJ stared at the door Samantha had just exited and after a moment's deliberation, started after her.

"EJ, what do you want with her?"

Elizabeth Webber's question stopped him in his tracks. He turned slowly and faced her. "Excuse me?"

"You look like a man with a purpose going after Sami. What is it you want from her?"

He appeared to think about that for a second and then said simply, "Answers."

"Good luck!" Elizabeth called after him.

EJ wasn't sure how in the hell he was going to find Samantha amidst the crowd of shoppers, but he was determined to try. He looked around him and then decided his best plan of attack was to just pick a path and go for it.

He had just about lost all hope of catching up to her when he didn't see, but rather heard her. Yelling.

Following the sound of her voice he found himself back at the docks with Jason Morgan and some blond.

"You are a complete and utter asshole, Jason Morgan!" Samantha shouted.

"Fuck off, Sami," Jason said harshly.

EJ made his way down the steps to them. "Don't talk to her like that," he warned Jason.

Samantha looked over at him as he came up beside her in shock. "EJ, what the hell—"

"Listen, little girl, I don't know who you are, but why don't you take Jason's advice and fuck off?"

Samantha's head snapped to the blond who had spoken and narrowed her eyes. "I'm sorry, but who are you again?"

The blond tossed her hair over her shoulder and formed her red lips into a pout. "Carly."

"Carly," Samantha repeated. "Well, Carly, I suggest you shut your whore mouth before I shut it for you."

Carly glared at her. "I'd like to see you try."

Sami charged forward and just before she could reach Carly, EJ grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back against him. "Now, now, my little scrapper."

"Let go of me, EJ!" Samantha shouted. "I'm gonna rip her hair out by the roots!"

"No, you're not. Instead, Jason and Carly are going to toddle on along now, right?" EJ said pointedly and looked at Jason.

Jason blinked his face a blank mask and then he nodded to Carly and the two departed. What a wanker, EJ thought. Samantha, meanwhile, was trying her very best to dislodge herself from EJ's arms. "Let me go, EJ. I'm going to kick his sorry ass!"

"No, you're not. You're going to stay right here with me and tell me what in the world Jason could have possibly done to you to get you so angry." He turned Samantha in his arms and gazed down at her imploringly.

Samantha looked up at him and his breath caught in his throat. God, she was beautiful. Even more so now than before. How that was possible EJ wasn't sure. Or maybe it was just because he hadn't seen her in so long that he'd somehow forgotten just how gorgeous she really was. The few pictures he had of her did not do Samantha in the flesh justice.

"He and Elizabeth are dating and I just caught him kissing that blond bimbo," she explained vehemently. "EJ, she was so upset! If you could have seen how upset she was because she knows something is wrong, but he won't tell her and now I know why – he's fucking someone behind her back and is too much of a pussy to tell her. And with that bimbo of all people! God, what is it with men and women like that? Do none of you have any self control at all?"

EJ reached a hand up and gently and slowly pushed some hair from her face. She flinched and turned her head. He straightened and released her from his arms, albeit reluctantly. "I am not Jason, love."

She glared at him. "Maybe not. But you might as well be."

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked quietly.

"It means you're an asshole, too, EJ DiMera."

**Chapter Five**

EJ couldn't help but chuckle as he folded his arms across his chest and shook his head. "There it is."

Her eyes flashed as she looked at him. "There 'what' is?"

"The anger I expected from you only an hour ago on this very dock. But instead you hugged me and acted as though we were just two old friends reuniting, which I suppose could be the case considering our past. However, there was something decidedly off in your reception of me, sweetheart. Was it just an act then, Samantha?"

Now she folded her arms across her chest. "Yes."

He cocked his head to the side. "Why?"

"I don't have to answer that," she said dryly.

"Can I guess?"

She pursed her lips together and arched a brow.

He smirked, unable to help himself. One of the things he most loved about Samantha was her fire and will. She never backed down from a fight; it had always made her a formidable opponent when they were enemies.

"You wanted to throw me off. Make me wonder what was going on," he said. "And you didn't want me to know that you were upset with me over how I never replied to your e-mails."

Samantha turned her face away from him, lifting her chin a bit. "Well, you seem to have a high opinion of yourself."

He laughed then and she shot him a withering look. EJ sighed and faced her. "Let's have it out then, Samantha. All of it."

That seemed to be enough to release the dam. Samantha dropped her arms and started waving them about as she railed at him. "I cannot even begin to count how many flippin' e-mails I sent you trying to explain why I couldn't do what you asked of me, and you never wrote me back, EJ. I poured out my hear to you—"

"That was not your heart, Samantha!" EJ found himself yelling back. Her words had incited his anger. That garbage had been her heart? Not bloody likely. "What you wrote to me was a bunch of drivel. Excuses. You actually had the gall to tell me that even our friendship was doomed! You wrote lies, Samantha, lies to protect yourself!"

She gaped at him. "Did you just use the word 'drivel'? My God. How British are you right now?"

"Not the point, Samantha! But then that is typical of you to ignore the real issue."

"The real issue being that you're an ass?"

"The real issue being that when you don't want to face something, Samantha, you run. You run and you hide and then you make excuses. How did you think it made me feel to read that our friendship was really just on borrowed time and it was doomed? After all the sneaking around we did just to spend five sodding minutes together, after all the times I lied about my whereabouts to my family, and how I blew off my friends so that I could just see you – and you thought that meant we were doomed? You doomed us, Samantha, not me."

"EJ, honestly, what did you think was going to happen? We'd have sex and then both take off and have a long distance relationship?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I did!" he shouted again.

"EJ, we haven't even been in the same time zone for two years! How well do you think that would have worked? We'd have nightly phone conversations when it's 3 a.m. my time? Or your time?"

He looked angry. Annoyed. Considering. "I will concede the time difference could have been a problem."

"One of many, EJ, one of many."

"Name another then."

She sighed heavily. "Other," she mumbled and then cleared her throat and said louder, "Other people."

EJ forced himself to not react out of jealousy. Had she met someone? Was she dating someone? Had she…oh, God. Had she had sex? Ignoring for a minute that he had done it without waiting for her, he had been unable to even consider the fact that Samantha may have had sex, too. He wanted to think of her as eternally waiting for him, but he knew that was unrealistic.

"Who?" he asked, horrified to hear himself sounded hoarse.

She waved a hand. "Whoever it is you're dating now."

He blinked. "Me?"

"Yes."

He waited for more information from her – such as who he was dating because he hadn't a clue. And, as far as he knew, he was the only one among their former classmates that was in Oxford.

"Samantha, I'm not – I'm not dating anyone," he said softly with a small smile. He braced himself. "Are you?"

She bit down on her bottom lip and looked away from him and EJ tried not to yell at her to tell him, tell him right that second if she was.

"No," she said finally.

EJ barely contained the heavy sigh of relief. He jammed his hands in his coat jacket instead and opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it.

"But that doesn't mean that there hasn't been anyone…for either of us." She was looking at him expectantly, as though she was waiting for him to admit to something. He wasn't about to. Not about having sex at least.

"There was someone?" he asked.

She sighed and gazed out at the water. One shoulder moved into a shrug. "Not really."

"No one for me, either," he said.

She looked at him incredulously. "I don't believe that."

He let out a short laugh. "Why not?"

"Because you're…you. You have that charming thing…and the accent."

He laughed again. "Sweetheart, I was in England. Just about everyone there has the same accent."

"Good point. Well, I still don't believe it." She almost sounded as if she was challenging him.

He smiled. "I don't believe it of you either. A gorgeous woman like yourself lacking dates? Please."

She laughed then and his smile grew. He had missed the sound of Samantha's laugher. It was so infectious and free.

"Samantha, I…I really missed you," he told her.

"You could have talked to me this whole time."

He sighed. "You made me angry with the things you said. How you reduced what we had to something bound to end. We had a connection, Samantha. Even when we were enemies there was a pull there. Didn't you feel it?"

"Yes, but I chalked it up to just wanting to make your life miserable."

He smiled and then ducked his head as he admitted, "Nothing you did then made me as miserable as hearing what you said in those e-mails." He looked up at her then and met her gaze straight on. "And nothing has been as awful as not having you in my life for the past two years."

"Again, that could have been prevented had you bothered to e-mail me back. Even if it was just to tell me I was full of it."

He sighed. "Okay, you're right. I should have said something instead of ignoring you completely."

"Thank you."

"Have your feelings changed?" he asked tentatively.

"In the way of…?"

"Thinking we are doomed?"

She sighed. "Well, the fact that we didn't talk for two years doesn't really instill feelings of hope, EJ."

He nodded resignedly. "You're right. I get mad at you for saying we're doomed and then use the distance to, well, distance myself from you."

"It's not like you're a quick plane ride away. You're across the country, EJ. If we had tried for…whatever it is you wanted—"

"A relationship, Samantha. I wanted a relationship with you."

"We had one already. Friendship. That's a relationship."

He looked at her sternly. "You know what I mean."

"So, then what? We have this long distance relationship where we're not even in the same time zone—"

"You keep saying that!" he exclaimed in frustration.

"Because it's the reality, EJ! But just for the hell of it, let's say that doesn't manage to be a problem. But then you get upset with me and you don't talk to me again for two years. Or—" she broke off and heaved a sigh. "Or you meet someone. If you're a stand up guy you'll tell me. But if you're not and you don't and you choose silence…"

"Why do you think I'll be the one to meet someone? You could just as well."

"You're right. I could. I was wrong to say our friendship was doomed, EJ. But I don't think I'm wrong in saying that a relationship with you in England and me here in the States wouldn't work."

EJ tilted his head to the side and studied her. "You think I'd be the one to bail, don't you?"

She didn't say anything, which was an answer all in itself.

"I don't believe you!" EJ erupted. "After all that we'd been through, you thought I'd be the one to bail. How could you think so little of me, Samantha?"

"Well, the way you blew me off for two damn years kind of proved me right, wouldn't you say?" she retorted heatedly.

"How long are you going to hold that over my head?"

She looked at him as though he'd sprouted seven heads. "We just saw each other after two fucking years, EJ! I'd say a while!" She pointed at him. "You just hate that I'm right. That it's possible it could happen."

"Samantha Jean Brady, the same thing could happen even if we were attending the same bloody school!"

"But at least then I'd be around to make your life miserable!"

EJ stared at her, her chest heaving with anger, her cheeks flushed, her eyes flashing. His breath caught and his heart felt as though it had stopped just for a second before starting again. "What do we do then?" he asked to keep himself from going to her and gathering her in his arms like he so desperately wanted to.

"Can we be friends again?" she asked hesitantly, her brow furrowing in worry.

"Friends," he echoed.

What did he expect? For her to jump in his arms after he, as she put it, "blew her off" for two years? She wasn't on the same page as him. Not yet.

He held out his hand to her. "Friends."

She beamed at him and instead of taking his hand, jumped in his arms. It was where, EJ decided, she belonged.

**Chapter Six**

It didn't take long for EJ and Sami to find themselves in their old routine of sneaking around just to spend time together. And when they couldn't be together, they were texting madly.

EJ smiled as he thought of the plans he had made for he and Samantha on New Years Eve. His parents had acquired a cabin on the outskirts of town in his absence and since said parents were traveling out of town for the holiday, EJ figured this would be the perfect set up for he and Sami to have some alone time together. Maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to convince her to give them a try. He'd scouted out the cabin and the area and decided it would be the perfect getaway for he and Sami to spend some time together. And, if his plans went well, it would be the perfect setting to make love to her for the first time.

"You're sure they won't randomly show up?" Sami asked over the phone the day they were supposed to meet at the cabin.

He laughed softly over her incessant worrying. "I'm completely and utterly sure, Samantha. Bring what you need and meet me there at seven. We'll make dinner, watch the telly – the 'Twilight Zone' marathon is on—" He smiled and paused when he heard her giggle. "And we'll talk. There is a lake nearby, so if it's not too cold we could walk along the small beach. The most important thing is that we're together, Samantha."

He heard her breath hitch at that and he smiled. For days he had been saying little things like that to let her know how he felt. Thus far, she had ignored every single one of them. But, being alone in a cabin together for a couple days would hopefully make her face them. Face him and what they could be…what they were _meant_to be.

"As long as you're sure we'll be all right…" she said.

"Positive. Just get your adorable self there."

"I'll be there," she promised softly.

"I can't wait," he whispered longingly.

The phone clicking signaled the call had ended and EJ sighed. With Samantha, nothing was ever easy. He was sure he had his work cut out for him in making her face what was between them.

He smiled at how he would attempt to woo her and set about gathering what he needed for their time away.

"Are you okay?" Sami asked Elizabeth later on that day as they met for lunch.

Elizabeth nodded. "I'm okay."

"Are you lying?"

"Well, finding out your boyfriend is cheating is never an easy thing to deal with. Especially when you love said boyfriend." Elizabeth sighed. "It makes me feel like a fool."

"Why? As far as I can tell he's the fool that let you go, Elizabeth. Jason Morgan is a putz."

Elizabeth smiled. "Sami, I'm so glad you're home."

Sami grinned. "I'm glad I am too. Just another couple weeks though," she said and her smile faded. She thought of EJ. How was she going to part from him _again_?

"I wish I had decided to go away to school instead of staying here to be with Jason," Elizabeth said, with surprising vehemence in her voice. "Maybe I can transfer."

"It would take another semester for that to happen. By then you'll be completely over Jason Morgan and dating someone who deserves you."

"You're such a good friend, Sami."

"I know," Sami quipped and they both laughed.

"Speaking of friends…" Elizabeth began. "Is tonight the night with EJ?"

Sami did a double take. "Excuse me?"

Elizabeth laughed. "Well, now I know where your mind is. I meant is tonight the night you're going away for a few days with EJ?"

"Oh, uh, yes," Sami said, her brow furrowed disconcertedly.

"And are we thinking something is going to happen?"

Sami nibbled on her bottom lip and looked helplessly at her friend. "I don't know. I don't…I don't think so, but EJ has been…different."

"Different? How?"

"He's been saying stuff."

Elizabeth laughed. "Oh, no not that! What kind of stuff?"

"Sweet romantic-y kind of stuff. Like telling me how beautiful I am, how glad he is to be home to be able to see me…how he can't wait to be alone together and how adorable he finds me. Just all this stuff that is making it really hard to keep him at arms length."

"And that's what you really want to do? Keep him at arms length?"

Sami sighed. "It's easier that way. When he goes back to Oxford it's going to be hellish again to be parted from him."

"I understand that. England is rather far away."

"Sure is," Sami sighed. "I just…what is he doing? Why is he saying these things to me?"

"Why? Sami, really? You haven't been able to figure it out? EJ DiMera is in love with you."

"How do you know that? You haven't even seen us together to know that."

"While that is true, you've told me enough about your relationship to figure it out for myself. Plus, I remember the way he looked at you when you left here like the hounds of hell were nipping at your feet just a week and a half ago. That guy is totally gone over you."

Sami made a face. "Well, he needs to stop it. It's just making things harder."

"Maybe you're the one making it harder, Sami. Why don't you try stopping and letting him catch you?"

Sami snorted. "Elizabeth, when have you ever known me to make thing easy?"

Elizabeth grinned. "Never."

"Then what makes you think I'm going to start now? Keeping EJ and I platonic is the best thing for both of us. It will save us both a lot of heartache."

Elizabeth sighed. "Oh, Sami."

"What?"

"As much as you think it's _both_of you that you're trying to protect, I can't help but think that you are absolutely terrified of letting him slip past those walls you've erected. I think that EJ touches a place inside of you that has you running scared. Think of what you'll gain by letting him in."

"And think of what I'll lose. So he can cheat on me the way Jason cheated on you? Tell me you don't regret letting Jason in right about now," Sami snapped. Instantly, she regretted the words. "I'm sorry, Elizabeth, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I'm sorry."

Elizabeth heaved a trembling sigh. "Sami, I know how it must look from the outside. I let Jason in and he broke my heart. But nothing is without risk. I don't regret loving Jason. I don't regret having experienced something profound."

"It's better to have loved than to have never loved at all?"

"I know it sounds trite, but yes. To experience the exhilaration, the joy, the excitement—"

"The pain?" Sami supplied.

"Even the pain. It lets me know I experienced something profound and life changing. That I felt something deeply and that it changed me and moved me." Elizabeth looked her knowingly. "You can't hide from love forever, Sami."

"Sure I can. You have no idea of what I am capable of." Sami meant it as a joke, but in a sense she did believe she could stop herself from giving herself completely over to EJ.

"And I think EJ is going to prove to you that you can't run forever and you're not invincible."

Sami raised her glass of Coke and smirked. "And to him I say, 'Good fucking luck!'"

Elizabeth shook her head. "Oh, I have no idea that he's going to need it."

Sami couldn't help the nerves that shook her as she pulled into the long driveway of the cabin she was meeting EJ at. She was so nervous she was shaking. God, she hated this. And why was she was nervous. It was EJ. EJ! Why did she feel she had to impress him? He'd most definitely seen her at her worst so why should she feel this way?

Sami sat in the car and cut the engine. She stared at the cabin before her. Pretty basic cabin as cabins went. Not too big and not too small either. It looked just right. She rolled her eyes. Apparently she was Goldilocks now.

"I'll go inside and he'll show me around and we'll hang out. Watch TV. Take a walk. Have something to eat, maybe even play a board game," she told herself. "Nothing to be nervous about. Nothing to fear."

The sound of a knock at the car door caused her to jump and she let out a small scream.

"Samantha?" EJ's voice came through her car window.

Sami rolled her window down and glared at him. "You scared the crap out of me."

"What are you doing just sitting out here? I've been waiting for you to come inside."

Sami licked her lips and held up a finger. She rolled up the window and then opened the door and found EJ standing _right there_, practically on top of her.

"Where are your bags?" he asked huskily and she could feel his breath on her face.

She swallowed hard. "Backseat."

"Doors open?"

She nodded and he smiled and went to retrieve her things. "Follow me," he said once he'd grabbed her two rather large duffel bags. "And just how long are you planning on staying?"

"Ha ha."

He laughed and once they were inside he placed her things on the plush pink couch in the center of what appeared to be the living room. Complete with a fireplace that was currently roaring. The lights were dimmed, creating a rather romantic atmosphere that caused Sami to start shaking even more.

"You're trembling, sweetheart," he murmured and moved in closer to her. "You cold?"

"I—I'm fine," she said, unable to look up at him.

He unzipped the black hoodie he was wearing and peeled it off. "You're not even wearing a coat." He draped the hoodie around her and smiled. "Look at me, Samantha."

Sami's eyes slowly traveled up to his face, taking in the black tank top he was wearing that revealed his muscular arms. She gulped as she looked up at his smiling face and thought, _Oh God. I'm screwed._

"Welcome to the cabin," he murmured and placed a tender kiss on her forehead.

Sami's eyes shut and she felt herself sway closer to him. The next thing she knew EJ had enveloped her in his arms and rested his cheek on top of her head. "I'm so glad you're here."

Sami licked her lips and found the strength to push away from him with a tremulous smile. "Show me around?"

He grinned. "Sure."

**Chapter Seven**

As cabins went, it was pretty standard. Living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom…with one bed…

"So, uh, does the couch flip out in the living room or something?" Sami asked as nonchalantly as she could whilst scratching the back of her head and pretending to take in the maroon and cream décor of the bedroom.

"It does," EJ replied and then grinned. "Is that your way of telling me that's where I'll be sleeping?"

"Or I can sleep there," she said quickly.

"No, no. Samantha. You are my guest. You will take the bedroom." His green deepened and he sidled up closer to her and ran a hand down her arm. "Unless you want some company—"

Sami turned away, completely ignoring his advances and started for the living room. "Do we need to go out and get food or…?"

"Uh, no, I went shopping. For dinner I thought I'd make some pasta. And I got us wine."

Sami turned and faced him with an arched brow. "Wine, huh? Stolen from the DiMera wine cellar, I presume?"

He chuckled. "Why yes. I also snagged us a bottle of champagne to ring in the New Year with."

"Underage drinking at a remote cabin," she said thoughtfully and tapped her bottom lip with the tip of one manicured finger. "All we need is a few more friends and a psychopathic killer and/or monster and we've got the setting for a horror movie."

EJ laughed. "Sweetheart, it's nice to know that some things haven't changed. Still enjoy scaring yourself silly, do you?"

"Of course! And hey, it's for our benefit that I watch so many."

"How's that?"

She grinned. "I've already figured out our escape route out the bedroom window should they come through the front door."

"Ah, yes. The escape route."

"You've got to have one; it's imperative. Under no circumstances are you to utter the words 'I'll be right back' or 'We should split up'. In fact, if you say either of them I will smack you upside the head."

"I see. Suffer at the hands of a killer or Samantha Brady hopped up on too many horror movies?"

"A smack earned from me could be a life saved, mister," she said with a smile as she wagged a finger in his direction.

EJ caught her finger and then drew her closer. "Samantha—" he began huskily.

"So, pasta, right?" she said and moved away from him quickly.

EJ sighed. "Pasta."

She was not going to make this easy, that much was clear. It's not as though EJ was all that surprised. When Samantha Jean Brady set her mind to something, she sure as hell followed through on it. Since she'd gotten it in her head that they would never work, she was determined then to stick by it.

EJ pondered how to up the ante over dinner. He considered getting her drunk and then decided that would put him into the "creepy" category and that was most definitely not the way to Samantha's heart.

"Shall I start a fire?" EJ asked her when it appeared that dinner was over.

She smiled. "That sounds nice. I'll put on 'Twilight Zone'."

EJ stifled a groan of frustration. So much for creating a romantic atmosphere. All right, well, he was going to have to find a way to get her away from the TV. Although…some episodes of 'The Twilight Zone' were creepy so maybe that could work in his favor.

A half hour later there was a fire going and Samantha was curled up on the couch next to EJ with a green afghan over her. EJ watched her out of the corner of his eye and tried to figure out how the hell he was going to get closer to Samantha.

"I'm a little cold," he blurted out and then smiled at her. "Mind sharing a bit of the afghan?"

Wordlessly, Sami pulled at the afghan and disbursed it evenly between them. She smiled briefly at him and then settled in again with her eyes glued to the screen. EJ shifted so that he was closer to Sami and then realized there was a couch cushion between them.

Great. Now he had to figure out how to get that out of the way. It sat between them like the bloody Great Wall of China.

Placing his hand on top of the cushion underneath the afghan, EJ's plan was to push it out of the way and make it seem as if it had just fallen. What he didn't plan on happening is what really happened – it went flying out from underneath the afghan, ended up on the coffee table before them and skittered across it, taking their glasses of wine with it.

"Bloody hell!" EJ shouted and Sami snapped into action, rushing to the kitchen.

Sami returned with a roll of paper towels and EJ went to the bathroom to get a towel. When he returned he knelt on the floor facing Sami and set about trying to soak up the wine on the carpet with the towel while she cleaned up the coffee table.

"What happened?" she asked cheekily as she worked.

"I was trying to move the cushion out the way," EJ told her bluntly.

"By flinging it?" she teased.

EJ sat back on his heels and stared at her. Sami darted a glance at him out the corner of her eye and, realizing he was no longer soaking up the wine on the carpet, stopped cleaning the coffee table and sat back on her heels as well.

"EJ? What's wrong? You look…perplexed," she said.

"Samantha, you're an intelligent woman, but sometimes you are incredibly dense," he said succinctly.

She blinked. "Excuse me? What the hell did I do?"

He stood then, frustrating taking over patience and seduction. "Samantha, do you have any notion of what I want to happen here?"

Sami climbed to her feet, her face flushed with sudden anger. He saw the storm in her blue eyes and though a smart man would have run for cover, EJ was not particularly smart when it came to Sami. He rather ended up a fool in her presence despite his best intentions and this was no exception. What he'd said, he'd put very badly and he knew it. But before he could even draw a breath to begin explanations, she was poking him in the chest – hard.

"You are a real piece of work, EJ DiMera!" she fumed. "All of this was just a set up for seduction? What is the matter with you? Were you planning this the whole time, is this your way of getting me back for not sleeping with you before? This is what – retribution?"

EJ grabbed her finger and squeezed. "Stop poking me, woman! That hurts!"

"I know something else that will hurt," she muttered and made to lunge at him. EJ grabbed her by the shoulders and leaned away from her, hoping his fragile bits would not meet with a knee.

"Samantha, listen to me for one bloody minute," he demanded.

Her eyes narrowed and a brow arched. "Do it fast."

"Samantha, I did not bring you here for the sole purpose of seducing you. I brought you here to spend time with you and to hopefully make you see how good we could be together. I wanted to prove to you that we are worth a go!"

"Worth a go?"

"Yes, a go at a real relationship."

He felt her physically deflate at his words and EJ released her. He watched as her brow furrowed and sat back down on the couch. She nibbled on her bottom lip and entwined her fingers in her lap. "EJ," she began.

"Don't, Samantha," he said hoarsely. "Don't tell me all the ways it would never work. Please, I can't bear it." Her hand fluttered to the sapphire heart that hung from her neck – a gift from him for Christmas. "That necklace," he told her now. I didn't tell you when I gave it to you what it meant to me when I bought it."

She looked up at him now, expectantly.

"It means you have my heart, Samantha. And I wanted you to have it next to yours where it belongs."

She stared at him wide-eyed. "Well," she said shakily after a moment, "don't I feel silly for giving you that stupid clock."

He smiled gently. "No. That clock is special. It tells me what time it is where you are so that I never call too late or too early. That helps so you don't anger the woman you're in love with by calling her too early in the morning."

She gasped at his words and her chest heaved as she began to breathe heavier. "EJ, you – don't mean—"

"Don't tell me I don't mean it," he whispered as he knelt before her. "Samantha, I have been in love with you since you told me I talked funny in kindergarten."

"You hated me," she told him.

"It was a cover."

"You were five."

"And yet my soul and my heart knew yours."

She smiled tenderly and cupped the side of his face almost reverently. "You're crazy."

"Yes, I am. About you."

"EJ, I'm – I'm scared," she admitted.

"Of what, sweetheart?"

"Being hurt. Losing you. What if you meet someone—"

"Samantha, I won't ever leave you. I won't find someone I want as much as I want you. Ever. You're it for me."

"You can't know that."

"But I do. I've known for a very long time now."

She bit down on her bottom lip and EJ resisted the urge just barely to lean in and kiss the wound she inflicted on herself. "Give me a chance, Samantha. Give us a chance. Sweetheart, you have to know how good we'd be together. You make me feel invincible, unstoppable. With you by my side I can leap tall buildings in a single jump."

She laughed as tears fell from her eyes. Placing her hands on his shoulders she looked at him imploringly. "Can we…take it slow? We have a couple more weeks before we need to return to school. Can we just see how being together feels in that time?"

He smiled broadly, leaned in until their noses brushed and whispered, "Yes."

"EJ, have you…?"

"Have I what?" he asked huskily.

"Have you had sex?"

"No. I've been waiting for you." The lie slipped easily from his mouth and EJ schooled his features to not show any indication of the guilt he felt.

"I haven't either," she whispered. "I've been waiting for you, too."

Guilt and relief and joy flooded EJ all at once and no longer could he wait to kiss the lips he'd dreamed about kissing for so long. He bent his head just slightly and their lips met. And then they were kissing with all the pent up passion of the past – God, thirteen years? Since their souls recognized its counterpart in the other? In all the time they'd spent hating each other and then becoming friends…it was all for this moment. This one.

EJ pulled Sami closer, needing to feel her body against his. She slid from the couch onto her knees and he held her close as he plundered her mouth again and again.

"EJ," she gasped with a laugh. "I can't breathe."

"We'll come up for air once we completely and wholly belong to one another," he whispered and slid his lips down her neck. "In every way."

"Wait," she burst out and pressed her hands to his chest.

He pulled back and looked at her, fear overcoming him. "What?"

"I'm not ready to…to have sex yet. Not tonight. We just, we just declared how we felt and I don't want to rush tonight."

He swallowed hard and nodded. "Samantha, there is one thing…"

"Yes?"

"I've declared how I feel…you've yet to."

Her expression softened to one of wonder and joy. "I've always loved you too, EJ."

EJ smiled and then pulled her in for another kiss, a kiss that quickly turned eager and heated. When he felt her begin to withdraw he broke the kiss and looked deep in her eyes. "Samantha, can I touch you? We won't have sex, but I just want to pleasure you. Can I do that? Can I touch you?"

Though she looked nervous, there was a sort of steely resolve about her that made her nod her head confidently, eagerly even.

EJ smiled and climbed to his feet. She looked up at him bewildered and then followed suit – and then he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom.

She laughed breathlessly as he placed her down upon the bed and then stretched out beside her. "I won't do anything to make you uncomfortable," he told her tenderly. "If you don't want me to do something, you tell me to stop."

"What do you plan to do?" she asked nervously.

He leaned in closer and whispered against her lips, "I want to make you come, Samantha. With my mouth. Can I do that?"

"You know how to do that?" she blurted out.

He laughed. "Yes. As you like to remind me, I did date Nicole Walker in high school for a while."

She made a face. "EJ, for future reference can you not mention Nicole in bed with me? Or at all ever?"

He chuckled. "Done."

"What do I do?" she asked.

God, her innocence was going to be the death of him. He loved it; reveled in it. "You just lay back and enjoy it," he whispered huskily and then kissed her deeply.

**Samantha fisted her hands in the bedspread beneath her as EJ knelt beside her on the bed. He was unzipping her jeans and pulling then down her hips. His breath hitched when he tossed them aside to find the only thing between that which he intended to taste and him was a skimpy pair of panties. **

"**Everything okay?" she asked nervously.**

**His traveled over her. "You're so beautiful, sweetheart."**

"**I feel on display."**

"**You are," he whispered. He kissed her deeply and then settled himself between her legs. "For me."**

**And then he stole her breath when he lifted her legs over his shoulders and licked up her core. Sami forgot to be nervous, forgot to be shy, forgot to be anything but in this moment with EJ. **

**It was a new sensation for Sami, having someone's mouth on her most private area and though part of her wasn't so sure about it, EJ soon put any fears – and all thoughts – to rest. His tongue, his mouth – they were magic. **

**Sami came so hard and so fast, she was left utterly breathless. When EJ kissed his way up her body and then took her mouth with his, allowing her to taste herself, she found it so kinky and erotic she almost told him they could just go ahead and have sex right then and there. **

**He held her close to him then, whispering to her how much he loved her, had always loved and would always love her. He told her how he would make her so happy and when he graduated from Oxford he would transfer to Port Charles if she moved back there and would finish obtaining his law degree at the PC Law University. **

"**You're making my head spin," she told him, her earlier nerves coming back. Being with EJ felt so very right…too right. Almost too good to be true. What would ruin it? Surely their families if they found out, but Sami didn't want to think of that now. The rest would come later. If they could somehow manage to stay together despite the distance they faced in a few more weeks then surely they could weather anything, right? So what held her back? What made her feel as though she could not fully give of herself to EJ? She knew she loved him to be sure and he had just wrung such pleasure from her body…how could she allow him to do that and still feel as though a part of herself was not in the moment with him? What was wrong with her?**

"**You make mine spin, too," he murmured and kissed her softly. "I love you so much, Samantha, and I'm so glad I get to tell you that now. I feel like a dam has burst inside of me and I can't stop telling you…." He moved her on top of him and kissed her. "I love you, I love you, I love you."**

**Sami decided to let her fears and nagging worries go and just soak up this moment with EJ. The rest would come later and, now that they were officially a couple, they would deal with it together.**

**She hoped. **

**It was morning. A quick glance at the clock told Sami it was nine. She stifled a giggle. She and EJ had completely missed ringing in the New Year. Well, she thought devilishly, maybe not. EJ had brought her to climax again and had taught her how to stroke his rather large shaft to completion. It had been exhilarating watching EJ come like that, watch him lose himself and look at her in such utter adoration. No one had ever looked at her in such a way and she wondered if anyone ever would again. **

**Climbing out of the bed she was in fact sharing with EJ, Sami made her way to the bathroom and on the way back saw his phone lighting up and vibrating like mad on the bureau. She stared at it and bit her lip. What if it was his parents looking for him? What if there was an emergency and they were coming here to the cabin for him? If they found her here all hell would break loose. **

**Fear had Sami picking up his phone intent on waking him up and handing it to him. But a quick glance at the name on the screen and the word 'pregnant' had Sami doing a double take. She couldn't help but read the text that was laid out before her. **

**Hello Lover. I just want you to know I missed my period. It's been a week. I am going to take a pregnancy test today. I will let you know the results…Daddy. Just trying it out! Miss you terribly – Maura.**

**Sami pressed a hand to her chest, feeling as though her heart was somehow slipping right out of it. EJ a…Dad? He…oh, God. He'd lied to her. He'd had sex! Sami looked at his sleeping form, tears welling up in her eyes as she tried to wrap her mind around what she'd just learned. **

**Fact: He'd had sex before.**

**Fact: He might have knocked up some girl named Maura.**

**Fact: He'd lied to her.**

**Fact: She had given him a piece of herself that she'd never given anyone because she thought they were sharing it for the first time together and he'd lied to her!**

**Sami's eyes narrowed and while the pain in her chest worsened, her anger began to grow. In that moment she absolutely hated him. **

**And he was about to learn what happened when you crossed Samantha Brady.**

**EJ slept like the dead. That worked out well for Sami because it was the only way she was able to lug his suitcase outside without him hearing her. She took it down to the lake and tossed it in the lake – making sure to include the clothes he'd discarded by the bed the night before. That left his boxers to wear – of which he was currently wearing. **

**Then she made her way back to the cabin and began to pack. Her plan was to load the car and then pour cold water over EJ as he slept to wake him up. **

**But as she packed, he woke up. She watched him stretch and then reach for her with a smile on his face. Sure he was happy. He'd nearly gotten laid the night before and if she wanted to entertain certain dark thoughts – he'd managed to get back at her for not sleeping with him two years ago. **

**Her heart ached as she watched him come to and realize she wasn't there. He looked over at her and at her open bag. "What are you doing, sweetheart?" he asked. **

"**Packing."**

"**For what?"**

"**I'm leaving."**

**EJ started. "What? What do you mean you're leaving? Leaving where?"**

**Sami grabbed his phone from the bureau beside her and flung it at him. He ducked and held his hands up to fend off the attack. It hit him in the chest. **

"**I figured you'd want some alone time when you found out whether or not your Maura's baby's daddy," she told him evenly and zipped up her duffel bag. **

"**Maura? How did you find out – ?" He looked down at the phone and his eyes went wide. That was enough time for Sami to make it out the bedroom door. "Wait, Samantha, wait!"**

**Sami didn't wait; she just kept going with both duffel bags in hand. She was afraid to start crying and did not want to do it in front of him. **

**EJ grabbed her duffel bags and yanked, nearly pulling them out of her hands. Sami spun and hit him with one of them. He ducked and then weaved away from her. "Samantha, listen to me!" he shouted. "Let me explain!"**

"**That you're a lying sack of shit? That I gave you something last night that I'd never given anybody and you lied to me? You fucking lied to my face you fucking asshole!" she screamed. **

**EJ had the decency to look ashamed. "Samantha, I love you—"**

"**No, you don't! Don't say that to me ever again. In fact, you won't get a chance to because I am done with you, EJ. Done. I never want to see your lying face again!"**

"**Don't say that, Samantha! Just listen to me, sweetheart. Listen to me and let me explain—"**

"**No. Don't you get it? I don't want you. Any part of you. Whatever I felt for you is gone. Finished."**

"**Samantha, you don't mean that, you haven't even listened to me—"**

"**I don't need to." Tears dripped from her eyes despite not wanting him to see them and she reached up to the sapphire heart he'd given her and yanked it from her neck. **

**He watched in horror as she flung it to the floor. "Here's your heart back. I don't want it. In fact, I don't want to ever see you or hear from you ever again."**

"**Samantha," he said and his voice broke with emotion. "I love you and I can explain why—"**

"**I don't care," she whispered. She turned away and made for the door only to have EJ grab her arm and pull her to him.**

"**Don't walk away from me, from us!" he growled. "Bloody hell, listen to me!"**

"**No! There is no us!" she shouted and shoved him away from her with all her might. He stumbled back and Sami used the opportunity to charge out the door. **

"**Samantha, wait!" he shouted at her and started to look frantically around him. **

**She smirked as he looked helplessly around for his shoes. "If you're looking for your clothes and your shoes, they're currently in the lake."**

**He looked at her, wide-eyed. **

"**Happy New Year, EJ," she said and walked off. **

**Once Sami was in the car she was surprised to find EJ storming outside in his boxers, looking more determined than ever. Narrowing her eyes, Sami yanked the car into reverse and floored it. EJ ran after her and she kept going, ignoring his shouts and his pleas. When she finally turned onto the main road, she put it in drive and sped off. **

**Now she just needed to figure out her next move. If she knew EJ he would no doubt come looking for her. Thankfully, with his clothes at the bottom of the lake, it would take him some time. **

"**Boston," she thought out loud. "I'll just go back to Boston and stay with Lexie."**

**She smiled then, happy to have her plan of escape.**

Chapter Nine

EJ stared after Samantha's car as it barreled down the road away from him and his first thought was - _Good God, she's going to kill herself driving like that! Slow down, Samantha!_ His second thought was - _I can't believe she threw my clothes in the lake!_ followed by _I just lost the love of my life_ and then finally, _Maura, that bloody bitch is __**not**__ having my baby!_

It appeared EJ had a few things to sort out. Starting with his clothes.

Sami was a sobbing mess by the time she made it back to Port Charles. She ended up at Elizabeth's, desperately trying to pull herself together before she went home. It would do no good to show up at home bawling like this. She had told her parents she was spending a couple days with Elizabeth anyway, so she'd have to do some fancy lying to explain why she was arriving home early and crying from her best friends house.

Sami lay across Elizabeth's bed, her face mashed into a pillow and Elizabeth sat beside her, a sympathetic and an all-too-understanding ear. "I can't believe he lied to you like that," Elizabeth said softly as she stroked Sami's hair.

"The thing is I just knew something was off," Sami said mournfully. "It felt too good to be true. I kept thinking that something was off…not right. Like something was going to come and destroy it all."

"And then something did."

"She's probably some stupid bitch like Carly," Sami said bitterly.

"Whoever she is, I am sure EJ regrets it."

"No, he doesn't!" Sami exclaimed and sat up. "This was probably all just some elaborate plan to get me in the sack so he could say he finally did it. It was all to assuage his male pride."

"Sami, do you really think that?"

"Yes! And don't try to tell me otherwise, Elizabeth Webber!"

Elizabeth held up her hands. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Sami sighed. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "I don't mean to yell at you. I'm just…"

"Upset, heartbroken and angry?"

"Yes."

Elizabeth nodded. "I know exactly how you feel."

"I want to go back to Boston," Sami declared.

"When? Now?"

Sami nodded. "I don't want to stay here in this town with him. I don't want to risk running into him."

"You can't run, Sami."

"Sure I can. And I will." She dug in her pocket for her phone. "I need to call Lexie and make a plan."

Elizabeth knew better than to argue with Sami when she got something in her head. And, if truth be told, she was jealous that Sami had an out. If she could have skipped town after Jason had trampled all over her heart, she would have jumped at the opportunity.

An hour later Sami had an escape plan and all that was left to do was sell it to her parents and pack. Elizabeth came with for moral support and an hour after that, Sami was ready to go to Boston.

Elizabeth held back the tears of being separated from her friend so quickly and Sami promised to call as soon as she arrived in Boston. She apologized profusely and then that was it, Sami was gone.

Elizabeth made her way to Kelly's for some hot chocolate and had just ordered when the door burst open and in walked EJ looking very much the picture of determination.

"Where is she?" he demanded. "I know you know."

Elizabeth just stared at him, amazed at how he nearly vibrated with restrained anger. "What do you care?" she managed to get out.

His expression softened and he looked at Elizabeth with something akin to hurt in his eyes. "What do I care? I love the blasted woman, that's what."

"You have a funny way of showing it. You lied to her, EJ."

He rubbed his forehead in frustration. "It's not like I had a nefarious reason to, Elizabeth! I just didn't want that to taint my," he lowered his voice, "experience with her."

"You didn't do it just to get back at her for not…you know…before?"

"Elizabeth," Deb, the waitress behind the counter, said. "Hot chocolate is up."

Elizabeth grabbed the cup off the counter, and smiled at Deb. "Thanks." She looked up at EJ, smile gone, and glared at him. "We can take this discussion outside."

EJ followed because he had no other choice and he was, quite truthfully, feeling desperate. It wasn't as though he could just show up at her house. He felt at a complete loss and only hoped now that her best friends would take pity on him and tell him where the bloody hell she was. However, judging by Elizabeth's expression, she wasn't going to be much help.

"All right, EJ, what the hell did you think was going to happen when you lied to Sami? Did you think it wouldn't come around to bite you in the ass?"

EJ sighed heavily, wondering why he hadn't thought of the same thing for the millionth time. "I didn't think at all," he admitted. "Elizabeth, all I was thinking was that I wanted – _want_ to be with Samantha. And not just for sex. I love her, dammit. She is the only woman I have ever loved and probably ever will love and I didn't want what I did with other women before her to taint that. What I shared with them was just sex, nothing more. And I did it with them out of hurt. I couldn't bear the thought of Samantha being away at college and having sex with someone else. It drove me out of my mind—"

"And so you thought you'd do it just to spite her."

"Not to spite her, Elizabeth. It hurt like hell to think about! I just wanted to find some way to make myself feel better and I thought losing myself in those other women would help. It didn't."

"Well, at least you are man enough to admit that much," Elizabeth said.

"Tell me how to get her to see me, Elizabeth, please. I need to talk to her and explain."

Elizabeth couldn't help it; she felt bad for EJ in that moment. It was plainly written all over his face how much he loved Sami. The despair in his eyes, the desperation…telling him she was gone would kill him. And if Sami went through on changing her email and phone number then EJ would be cut off completely from her and she had a bad feeling about what that would do to him.

"Are you the baby daddy?" she asked, partly because she needed to know for Sami and partly to put off telling him Sami was gone.

"No," EJ said and raked a hand through his hair. "The woman is off her rocker. This isn't the first stunt she's tried to get me back. I spoke to her roommate and according to her, Maura planned to reel me in with a fake pregnancy."

"Wow."

"I know. It doesn't even mathematically add up, but that's neither here nor there right now. Elizabeth. Where is Samantha? Can you help me get to her?"

Elizabeth heaved in a deep breath. "I can't, EJ, I'm sorry. Sami left today for Boston. She's staying with a friend until the semester begins."

EJ looked as though someone had physically punched him. He staggered backwards and reached out to the wall beside him to steady himself. "She left? Just like that?"

She nodded. "And I can't tell you where, EJ. I'm sorry. I have to respect Sami's wishes in this and she…she doesn't want to see you."

"Elizabeth, please," EJ pleaded. "I need her."

"The best I can do is try to talk to her, EJ. I'm sorry."

EJ nodded and hung his head. "I understand," he said hoarsely. "You're a good friend."

"You really love her, huh?"

EJ nodded, his expression pained. "More than anything in the world."

In the end, Sami refused to speak to EJ and did change her phone number and email address. She also refused to speak to Elizabeth for a while for sticking up for him.

EJ, for his part, returned to school and after attempting to find ways to reach Samantha, finally gave up. But not completely. As soon as school was out he was going to PC Law University as he'd planned to, and he was going to get Sami back no matter what.

Chapter Ten

**Two Years and 6 months later**

Sami beamed at Elizabeth as she gave her the grand tour of the new apartment she shared with her boyfriend, Austin Reed. It wasn't a very long tour, only about five minutes, but Sami was proud. And excited. She barely refrained from jumping up and down and squealing, "I'm living with a boy!"

"Very nice, Sami, very cute," Elizabeth said as they settled at the kitchen table and Sami set about pouring iced tea for them.

"Thanks. I know Austin was a little nervous about moving to Port Charles, but he wanted to be with me and so…here we are." Sami smiled as she handed Elizabeth her iced tea and sat down across from her at the table. "And he'll be modeling during the day and taking night classes at PCU to finish out his veterinary degree."

Elizabeth giggled. "I can't believe your boyfriend is a model!"

Sami laughed. "I know!"

"How long until he finishes his degree?"

"Just another year."

"And you've landed a job working for Kate Roberts' marketing firm."

"Well now, I haven't landed it yet. Just the interview."

Elizabeth grinned. "You'll get it."

"God, I hope so. My parents didn't think marketing was going to get me anywhere and now I feel like I have to prove to them that I didn't waste all the money it took to get the degree in it."

Elizabeth bit her lip and Sami knew she was thinking something. "What?" she prompted.

Elizabeth studied her friend. "I saw EJ last week."

Sami stiffened and then shrugged and took a sip of her iced tea. "Oh? So the prodigal son has returned? Did you talk to him?"

"No," Elizabeth lied and felt terrible about it. "I just saw him in passing."

Elizabeth had been surprised when she'd come across EJ down near Kelly's that nearly the first thing out of his mouth had been to ask after Sami.

_"Has Samantha returned to Port Charles?" EJ asked after the pleasantries had been gotten out the way._

_Elizabeth bit her lip and nodded. "Yes."_

_EJ's face filled with relief as though he'd been worried she wouldn't have returned home. "How is she?"_

_"She is well…but, uh, there is something you should know."_

_EJ stared at her intently. "What?"_

_"She brought someone home with her. Her boyfriend Austin. He's a model and—"_

_"A model?" EJ chortled._

_"EJ, they're living together."_

_EJ nodded slowly and Elizabeth was surprised to see pain in his eyes. "You can't still be holding out for her after all this time, EJ," she said. "I know she cut you out completely, I know she changed her number, her email – I know this. You can't still think there is a chance for you and her."_

_"I think a lot of things when it comes to Samantha, Elizabeth. A lot of them make absolutely no sense to me…even after all this time."_

_He had bid her farewell then and that_ was that. Elizabeth couldn't very well tell Sami about the conversation, but she had felt compelled to at least warn Sami that EJ was back from school. Elizabeth wasn't sure why she felt so bad for EJ aside from the fact that she knew what it was like to love someone that couldn't love you back. It hurt like hell. However, with EJ it seemed like an obsession of sorts and Elizabeth was hoping that in telling EJ about Austin, he would have gotten the message that Sami had moved on and he should, too.

Somehow Elizabeth didn't think she'd helped on that end. In fact, she rather felt she had just added more logs to the fire. What drove EJ now befuddled Elizabeth – but then she'd never had a man love her that much.

And Elizabeth wondered – at this point was it love? Or obsession? Was it to prove a point? Was it pride? Sheer stubbornness? Elizabeth wasn't sure, but she felt a duty for some reason to not only protect Sami, but EJ as well. There was something so singularly raw and passionate in the way EJ loved Sami. It was at once frightening and beautiful. Sublime.

"Well, it was inevitable that we'd be in the same town again," Sami said nonchalantly, but there was a tightness to her voice that hadn't been there before. "Whatever. The chances of us running into each other are slim. We don't run in the same circles."

Elizabeth sighed and shook her head. "And now you've done it."

"Pardon?"

"By saying what you just said you've just guaranteed that you'll run into EJ again and again."

Sami laughed and waved a dismissive hand. "I highly doubt it. So, anyway, tonight. We still on for Club 101? You, me, Austin and Robin and…" she grinned cheekily, "Lucky Spencer, is it?"

Elizabeth blushed. "Yes, I will be bringing Lucky."

"Excellent. Then I can interrogate him and find out if he is good enough for my Elizabeth."

Sami, Austin, Elizabeth, Lucky and Robin Scorpio were all congregated at a table in the middle of Club 101. Drinks were scattered about the table already, most only half full.

Austin was telling everyone about his first day modeling and how it was through Kate Roberts' marketing firm that the job had come through.

"Oh, good! Maybe I can just happen to mention that my boyfriend just modeled for the magazine they're promoting and I'll get the job!" Sami said excitedly.

Austin grinned. "Maybe. Can't hurt, right? Oh, hey, that reminds me. I invited someone I met there to meet us here tonight. He's new, just got a job working under Kate. Really nice guy. I can't remember what his job is, but if he shows up then you'll have another contact."

"What's his name?" Sami asked curiously.

"Edward." Austin frowned, "I think. God, you know I suck with names. I just remember how nice he was."

"Is he coming for sure?"

"I think – oh, hey. Here he is."

Sami looked to where Austin was pointing and felt the ground underneath her shift as she spied EJ coming toward them. No. No. God, no. Maybe it was the guy behind EJ. Wait. Austin said the guys name was Edward…but then again, he was terrible with names..._Oh, please no, no no no…_

Sami stared hopefully at the guy behind EJ for so long he looked at her funny and she had to turn away…and then he veered off in another direction.

EJ caught her eyes and held her gaze as he approached. He smiled. "Samantha Brady, as I live and breathe."

"You know each other?" Austin asked as he pointed between the two of them.

"We sort of grew up together," Sami said. "We were in school together from kindergarten to high school." She narrowed her eyes at a smiling EJ. "And we spent most of our time as enemies."

"But that's water under the bridge now, surely?" EJ said smoothly. "High school was a long time ago. Surely we can let bygones be bygones."

"Our families would have something to say about that," she retorted and looked up at a confused Austin. "Our families hate each other. Something about some relationship between my great aunt and EJ's grandfather."

"Interesting," Austin said, his brown eyes narrowed in thought. He smiled then, that hunky smile that never failed to make Sami smile in return. "But we're all adults now, right? Water under the bridge and all that."

Sami glared at EJ and EJ just smiled back.

Sami shook her head. "I need to powder my nose," she said and made her way through the crowd.

Elizabeth met her inside soon after. "Are you okay?" she asked Sami, who was standing by the sink and giving herself pep talk. _I will not knee EJ in the balls…I will not knee EJ in the balls…_

Sami sighed and turned to face her best friend. I'm fine. I'm just – he's up to something. I know it. The one person he makes friends with is my boyfriend? And –" she paled. "Oh God. He works for Kate Roberts?" Sami threw up her arms. "I'm screwed!"

"Maybe if you talked to him?" Elizabeth suggested meekly.

"I'd rather gouge my heart out with a spoon."

"Well, maybe if you two cleared the air a little…"

"And maybe if monkeys flew out of my ass," Sami snapped and then sighed. "I'm sorry, Elizabeth. It's just that I thought this chapter of my life was done. After EJ and I parted ways I put him out of my life, my head and my heart completely. I never even told Austin about him!"

"Was it easy to do?"

Sami blinked. "Was what easy?"

"Putting him out of your head and your heart."

Sami pursed her lips together. "No. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do." Her voice cracked. "But I had to. He ripped my heart out, Elizabeth. And the thought that he lied to me about the most profound experience of my life and the idea that he could be a father…" She swallowed hard. "It killed me."

"So instead you clung to your anger."

"Yes. And then I met Austin." She smiled tremulously. "He saved me."

Elizabeth smiled. "He is very nice. I like him."

"And I like Lucky," Sami told her. "Look, you don't have to stay in here with me. I am just going to get myself together and I'll be out."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"All right. I'll find a way to keep EJ away."

Sami smiled. "Thanks."

After splashing some cold water on her cheeks and taking a few deep, calming breaths, Sami made her way out of the bathroom and nearly screamed when a strong arm wrapped around her middle and pulled her deeper into the dark hallway.

"Don't scream; it's me." EJ.

Sami pushed out of his arms and faced him, all her calm disappearing. "What the hell are you doing?"

EJ reached out and tucked some hair behind her ears. "Well, love, I think it's time we had a chat, don't you?"


	2. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven**

Sami batted EJ's hand away and glared at him. "No, I don't think it's 'time we had a chat'. There's nothing for us to 'chat' about."

"I beg to differ."

"You can differ all you want, it doesn't change anything, EJ. Whatever was between us ended two and a half years ago when I left that cabin."

"Again I beg to differ."

"EJ—"

"You never gave me a chance to explain, Samantha!" EJ erupted.

"What was there to explain exactly, EJ? That you lied to me? That I was ready to give you something I'd never given anyone before and I thought it would be our first to share together, but you'd already done it enough to maybe knock someone up? And that you spouted all that crap about love in the hopes I'd give it up so you could assuage your male pride from when I'd rejected you?"

EJ's eyes went wide. "You think that's – Samantha, how could you think that? That's not true!"

"And I'm supposed to believe you now when you've been so honest with me in the past," she said wryly.

"This is why we need to hash this out—"

"Oh, go hash yourself – hey – let go of me!"

EJ had grabbed hold of her arm and was now pulling her deeper into the hallway and its darkness. "We're going to talk about this, dammit. iNow/i."

"For what purpose?" Sami demanded harshly as she extricated herself from his grasp. "What is the point, EJ? It's not like it's going to change anything." She leaned in close until they were mere inches from each other. "In case you haven't figured it out I've already had sex so it's not like that's up for grabs anymore."

EJ growled and grabbed her close, their bodies colliding. Sami looked up at him, stunned. She placed her hands on his chest and tried to push him away but EJ would not be deterred. "I had your heart first," he said huskily.

"On the planet you wish," she spat and continued to struggle against him.

"No, Samantha, you loved me once. As I loved you."

"You never loved me," she said, outraged enough apparently by that to stop struggling. "I was just some prize."

"You've never been a prize to me, Samantha," he said, and sounded genuinely wounded. The hurt in his eyes gave Sami pause. "I loved you. Deeply. Irrevocably."

"And now it's done," Sami said calmly and tried to push at him.

"I still want to tell you what happened, why I lied."

"EJ, let me go!"

"You have an interview with Kate Roberts in a few days, don't you?"

Sami stilled, feeling cold all over and looked up at him. "Yes," she whispered.

"Funny that. Did Austin tell you how I am currently working for Kate?"

Sami ground her teeth together. "He may have mentioned it, yes."

"You see, Kate and my father are old business associates from long ago—"

"Are you saying your Daddy got you a job?"

EJ glared at her. "I didn't have him call me in a favor if that is what you're insinuating."

"I'm not insinuating. I'm flat out saying it."

"I got hired on my own merits."

"Well, part of marketing is lying here and there sometimes. I can see you being good at that."

EJ pulled her tighter against him. "She knows my last name; she knows my father. He wouldn't have lifted a finger to help me—"

Sami snorted.

"—but I would lift a finger to help you. Or destroy your chances completely."

"You little snake—"

"Now, now, sweetheart. Let's not say anything we might regret."

"Oh, I don't know. We shouldn't rush to conclusions! EJ, I hate you." She smirked. "Nope, no regrets."

"Samantha," EJ said firmly.

"You planned this," she snarled. "Out of all people to make nice with you make nice with my boyfriend and get yourself invited to hang out with us. Don't think I'm not onto you."

He smirked. "Samantha, darling, you do have quite an active imagination."

"Do I, EJ? Do I?"

He laughed and then leaned in until their noses brushed. "Do you want the job, Samantha?"

She met his gaze straight on, refusing to cower…or to admit that his close proximity was doing things to her. "Yes."

"Then meet me tomorrow at noon at the boxcars." He released her abruptly and strode away. Sami glared at his departing back and resisted the urge to do something silly like throw her shoes at his arrogant big head.

Standing in front of the long deserted boxcars waiting for Samantha, EJ couldn't help but reminisce about all the times they'd met in this very spot. He smiled to himself as he remembered what it felt like to fall in love with Samantha then. He'd thought himself invincible then, as most teenagers did. Aside from their families being arch enemies, EJ hadn't really given much thought to things ever ending badly with Samantha. He loved her ergo everything would work out for them.

He hadn't anticipated so many things getting in their way. To say he looked back with regret was an understatement. He knew he wasn't the only one at fault, oh no, but he did know his last infraction had severed any trust Samantha had in him and so rebuilding was going to be a long and arduous task.

As was getting rid of the boyfriend.

It was most definitely true that he'd "befriended" Austin for a reason. After Elizabeth had told him that Samantha was living with someone named Austin and that he was a model, well, it wasn't all that hard to find the man.

And when he'd seen Samantha's name on the list of applicants for a job with Kate Roberts' firm, well…he wasn't afraid to wield some power over Samantha. God knew she had enough over him already. In fact, if she only knew how much she did have, he'd be screwed.

He'd been honest when he told Elizabeth a lot of what he felt for Samantha made no sense to him, even after all this time. He still loved her. Wanted her. The only difference between before when he'd been an idealistic young boy who thought nothing could stand in his way, now he knew that things could and have and did stand in his way.

And he was going to get rid of each and every obstacle – and that included Samantha and her strong will.

"All right, EJ. I'm here."

EJ looked up and smiled at a none-too-happy Samantha. If it was possible she had somehow grown more beautiful over the past couple years. More mature. There was something about her that seemed to glow from within and EJ bit back a snarl at the thought that it could be due to Austin.

Sami was his, dammit. She always had been and she always would be.

She gestured to him. "Let's get this over with. Say what you have to say and let's put it behind us already."

EJ frowned thoughtfully. "Now, Samantha, when you say 'put it behind us', do you mean that you'll come to forgive me? Or do you mean that you still plan on washing your hands of me?"


	3. Chapter Twelve

**Chapter Twelve**

Sami sighed as though defeated. "Honestly, EJ, what does it matter?"

"It matters a great deal to me," EJ told her definitively.

"Why?"

He looked around them, a small smile playing on his lips. "Do you remember coming here after school? Meeting after school for however long we could, just the two of us?"

Sami frowned at his evasion and briefly looked around them. "I remember," she said. "So is this why you wanted to meet here? To reminisce? Hopefully make me remember a time when you didn't lie to me just to get in my pants?"

His expression hardened and his eyes glittered with anger. "Samantha, I did not lie to you to get in your pants. It really irritates me that you'd think that after everything we shared here."

"It more than irritated me to find out that you could have been a father."

EJ sighed and raked a hand through his hair. "But I'm not. I knew I wasn't; it wasn't even a question I entertained."

"I learned as much from Elizabeth when she spoke to me on your behalf," Sami said, remembering how she'd felt betrayed by her best friend when Elizabeth had actually defended EJ to her. "It doesn't change the fact that you lied."

"Here you are spouting off about how much I hurt you when you were the one to break my heart first."

Sami looked at him incredulously. "Are you kidding me?! You're bringing that up again?"

"I just want to remind you, Samantha, that you're not the only one that's done harm in this relationship."

Sami's brows drew together in a mixture of curiosity and disbelief. "We don't _have_ a relationship, EJ. We haven't for a very long time now."

EJ pursed his lips together and looked away from her.

"Time's ticking, EJ," Sami reminded him. "You wanted to explain, I'm here, so get on with it."

"No, Samantha, you don't get to do that," he said angrily.

"Do what?" she asked incredulously.

"Dismiss me. Humor me just so you can go on about your day like this isn't important, like I never meant anything to you and we didn't mean anything to each other," he said passionately and came to stand before her. He could see he had her attention by the stunned expression on her face. Her eyes were wide, watching him. "We were in love, Samantha, and we spent one glorious night together that was the culmination of all my hopes and dreams—"

"Oh, give me a small break—"

He grabbed her arms and shook her lightly. "No! You wanted me to talk, well I'm talking now. And you have to listen—" he placed a finger over her mouth when she opened it to speak, "—with no interruptions. Then you can have your say or go on your merry way and fetch Austin some Calvin Klein underwear or foundation or whatever it is models can't live without."

Sami glared at him and he just grinned and tapped her nose. "Now where was I? Oh, yes. The cabin."

She heaved a deep breath and folded her arms across her chest. She was going to listen, but she was going to let him know however else she could that she was _not_ happy about it.

"Samantha, all those awful things we did to each other growing up had me convinced I hated you," EJ began. "I thought, too, in some strange way that it was my duty as a DiMera to make your life, as a Brady, a living hell. Obviously, I figured the same applied to you for me. And then you started dating Lucas Horton and it all went to hell."

He noted the surprise and spark of interest in her eyes and expression.

"I was jealous," he declared simply. "Jealous when he held your hand and kissed you, and jealous that you would smile so beatifically for him. I thought torturing you had become habit at that point and so I chalked up my jealousy to having your attention diverted from our mutual goals of making each other miserable." He shook his head and laughed a little. "Even as I told myself that I knew I was deluding myself. I was jealous of Lucas because I wanted to be the one to hold your hand, to kiss you and to have you smile at."

"EJ—"

He twitched his finger back and forth. "Uh-huh. We had a deal. I talk you listen."

She sighed again and gestured for him to continue.

"I dated Nicole because I wanted to push what I felt for you away. I wasn't ready to face it because I knew if I did…" he breathed out slowly. "God, I know you'd turn my world upside down." He reached out and gently cupped the side of her face, surprised when she didn't move away from him. Instead, she simply stared.

"I tried so hard to bury what I felt for you and I did for a time. I was always conscious of you, however. Always knew where you'd be and when. I kept tabs on you, Samantha – I thought it was about knowing your enemies every move, but it wasn't. And I knew that, too." He looked at her longingly then, causing Sami to look away from him.

"And then Eric died."

Sami's head snapped back to look up at him, feeling a fresh wave of pain at the mention of her brother.

"I couldn't stand to see you in such pain, Samantha. I took the risk that you'd flatten me if I attempted to comfort you and tried anyway. I'm glad I took the chance."

Samantha bit her lip and nodded as she wrapped her arms around herself. "I'm glad you did, too. You got me through the worst moments of my life, EJ. I don't know that I ever properly thanked you for that."

EJ smiled gently, allowing her to at least speak that much. "You're welcome. From then on we weren't enemies any longer. We were friends. Best friends."

Sami nodded and looked down. "I remember."

"I finally allowed myself to accept the feelings I had done so well to hide – even from myself. I allowed myself to love you completely and utterly."

The husky timbre of EJ's voice caused Sami to shiver. It wasn't as if she was completely immune to EJ; she never had been. She was just happy she didn't have to go all true confessions on him because there were things she wasn't prepared to admit to when it came to her always confusing and tumultuous feelings for EJ.

"Samantha, I lied to you about having sex with other women because I hated that I had done it. And the only reason _why_ I did was because I was hurt. I wanted to be with you, Samantha. I loved you so much and wanted to be the only man in your life while we were on different sides of the world. I suppose it's quite barbaric and caveman of me, but I wanted to stake my claim on you and make it so good you'd have me and only me in your head. But then you ran from me and started spewing all this garbage about how we couldn't be and how we were just on borrowed time anyway…it just about killed me."

"EJ, I…I don't begrudge you having sex." She made a face at that as the old jealousy roared up inside her. Still the idea of EJ with other women disturbed her and she hated that.

"You look pained, sweetheart. Dare I ask if that's jealousy you're currently grappling with?"

She shot him a look that clearly told him she was not amused. "As I was saying," she continued. "As much as I would have wished you hadn't because I hadn't—"

"Because you were waiting for me," he said softly.

"You're a guy." She shrugged. "It's different for men."

"Yes, but it didn't change the fact that I was ashamed of my behavior. When I saw you again all those feelings came rushing back, Samantha. I'd never stopped loving you. I don't think I ever will."

Sami looked sharply at him. Did that mean he still loved her now?

"I lied because I was ashamed and because I knew I wanted a second chance with you, to be with you. I was afraid if I told you I'd had sex you would walk away from me again. And, I think part of me was hoping that if I said the lie long enough, that I hadn't done it, I could undo what I did and make it as though it had never happened."

"Were you ever going to tell me?"

He sighed and shrugged. "I honestly hadn't thought that far ahead. All I could think was that I finally had my second chance. You told me you loved me, Samantha, and that made me the happiest man on the bloody planet."

"I felt like I couldn't breathe when I saw that text," she admitted softly. "The idea that you had shared something so intimate with someone else…"

EJ nodded, his eyes closing briefly in pain. "I know."

"And then learning you lied to me and could possibly be a father…"

"I know," he said regretfully. "If you had just let me explain, sweetheart. We could be in a very different place now—"

"EJ, do you believe that things happen for a reason?"

"Yes, of course, but what—" He shook his head. "You think that happened because we weren't meant to be." He threw up his arms. "That _again_?"

"Look at the evidence!"

"The evidence," he said through clenched teeth, "is that you are the most stubborn, most maddening women I have ever met!"

"You're not exactly a walk in the park, EJ DiMera! Need I remind you how you coerced me into meeting you here today?"

He grimaced. "Admittedly not a shining moment."

"Exactly."

"You do drive me to extremes it seems."

She rolled her eyes. "Sure. It's [i]all[/i] me, and nothing of your DiMera blood."

EJ sighed heavily. "While I do believe things happen for a reason I do not think that happened to keep us apart. It happened because I'm an idiot and you're a stubborn pain in my arse."

"And yet you wanted to clear the air with this stubborn pain in your arse," she retorted.

"Do you wonder at all, Samantha, why that would be?"

"I gave up trying to figure you out when you took up with Nicole Walker of all people. If a place filler was what you wanted you could have done a lot better."

"And Austin? Is he more than just a place filler?"

Sami narrowed her eyes at him. "Austin is a wonderful man."

"Please stop. I don't want to lose my breakfast, Samantha." EJ stuffed his hands in his pockets. "And he knows nothing of us. Why is that?"

"Because I was determined to put you completely out of my head and my heart. And that meant pretending you never existed."

"Ouch."

"You asked."

"And now?"

She frowned. "Now…what?"

"Have you forgiven me?"


	4. Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Sami looked up at EJ thoughtfully and then shook her head. "No, I don't. Not right now. I know it's not what you want to hear, but it's the truth."**

**EJ nodded, sticking his hands in his pockets and sighed heavily. "Do you think someday though?" he asked hopefully. **

"**I can't put a time stamp on it, EJ. But yeah, maybe one day."**

"**You'll be sure to let me know when the blessed event happens?"**

**Sami laughed somewhat nervously. "Well, sure. If I can."**

**EJ nodded slowly and looked at her thoughtfully. "Samantha, you do realize that I'm not going anywhere, right? I mean, I will be here in Port Charles and most likely soon to be working with you."**

"**So you're going to put in a good word for me?" she asked hopefully.**

**He grinned. "I already did."**

**Sami's jaw dropped and then she threw up her arms in disgust. "EJ, you big jerk! You made me think I had to come here or you wouldn't put in a good word for me!"**

"**Aren't you glad I made you come? Aren't you glad we cleared the air a bit, hmm?"**

**Sami pursed her lips together. "I suppose…but I don't like being tricked, EJ. Have we not just learned this?"**

"**And I don't like being denied," he said sotto voce.**

"**Well, thank you for putting a good word in for me. I suppose that means I'll see you later."**

**He nodded once, gallantly. "Of course. What are you doing now? Perhaps we could risk getting lunch and coming back here or—"**

**Sami furrowed her brow together, looking concerned. "EJ, we cleared the air and I said it's possible that one day I will forgive you, but we're not…we're not going to be friends like we were. You do realize that, don' t you?"**

"**I had hoped we could try."**

"**I don't know if that's a good idea," Sami said softly. **

"**Right. Time. You need time, Samantha."**

"**Just don't…don't be holding out for an anytime soon okay?"**

**EJ blew out a breath. "Right."**

"**Um, okay," Sami said awkwardly and smiled faintly at him. "Bye, EJ."**

"**See you later, Samantha," EJ said and watched her walk away from him. Again. "Just so long as you know, I won't be going anywhere. I won't give up until you are mine, Samantha," he said aloud to her retreating back. **

**The next few weeks were hectic ones in which Sami acclimated to her job and spent much time working alongside EJ. Though new himself, EJ had not only helped Sami get the job working for Kate's marketing firm, but he made sure her opinions were heard in meetings as well. EJ was in the position of having quite an in with Kate thanks to his father. **

**In observing the interactions between Kate and EJ one afternoon, she remarked to EJ how close he and Kate seemed to be. **

**He looked at her funny as he shut the door to his office. "How do you mean?"**

"**She's always touching your arm, she laughs at whatever you say…"**

"**Are you saying I'm not funny?" he teased. **

**She rolled her eyes. "No, I'm saying that it's like you guys are dating."**

**EJ smirked. "Well, rest your mind at ease, we're not."**

**She laughed. "I wasn't worried about it, EJ, I was just making an observation."**

"**So, what have you got for me?"**

"**Some of the survey questions we talked about for MadWorld," she said as she handed over a folder to him. "Can I ask you a question, EJ?"**

**He looked up at her and smiled as he settled into his chair behind his desk. "Of course, Samantha."**

"**Does Kate like me? Am I doing okay here?"**

"**Samantha, you're doing great. You came armed with an arsenal of ideas and you're a quick learner. Why? Has someone said something to you or something?"**

**She sighed and sat back in her chair across from him. "No. I just worry. I want to do well."**

"**You're doing fantastic, stop worrying."**

"**Austin told me we'll be using him again for a shoot for MadWorld. Tell me again why you need a half naked man and woman to sell cosmetics?"**

**EJ didn't answer right away, but stared down at the survey in front of him seemingly lost in thought. **

"**EJ?" Sami prompted. **

**He looked up and cleared his throat. "Sorry. I don't know where I went just then? What were you saying about Dallas – I mean, Austin?"**

**She arched a brow. "Not important. So, does the survey look okay?"**

**EJ smiled and handed the file back over to her. "Perfect."**

**She grabbed the folder, stood and smiled at him. "Thanks. I'll send them to be copied and sent over!"**

**As soon as Sami shut the door to his office, EJ picked up the phone and dialed Kate. "Kate, EJ… Listen, you know how we booked those models for the MadWorld photo shoot? Well, I was thinking – what if we saved some money and you hired Samantha and I instead? …Great! Just do me one favor, Kate? Please don't let Samantha know this was my idea…"**

**It didn't take long for Sami to hear the news about how she would be posing with EJ for the MadWorld Cosmetics shoot. And when she did hear, EJ knew about it by her storming into his office. **

"**Did you have something to do with the phone call I just got from Kate about posing for the shoot with you tomorrow?"**

**EJ stared at her. "Samantha, I just got the phone call about it myself. Why would I have had anything to do with Kate's decision? She obviously sees something in you that she likes for MadWorld. I don't question her genius often. And especially not now. You're gorgeous, Samantha." EJ hid a smile at the sight of Sami blushing at his compliment. "See? And you were worried that she didn't like you."**

**Sami eyed him suspiciously, but said nothing as she turned and walked out again. **

**EJ grinned and sent Kate a quick email that simply read: Thank you.**


End file.
